Legend of the Beast
by Wallshadow
Summary: A new journey. Chapter Eleven now up. Please see profile.
1. Chapter One

**A.N.**- Well, I was looking around and noticed that people have these things called disclaimers. So I decided that for legal security I might as well slap one together. Also, I've decided to post any extra thoughts I have about my story and/or the newest chapter in my profile.

**Disclaimer**- I do not own Wizards of the Coast's Dungeons and Dragons game, obviously because it is Wizards of the Coast's and not Wallshadow's Dungeons and Dragons game. That basically means that most of the equipment, weapons, armor, etc. etc. belong to Wizards of the Coast. That also means that I made these characters using rules and templates taken from the Dungeons and Dragons game. This means that I don't own the rules made to make characters, play the game, or anything to do with miniatures for that matter either. I do own, to the best of my knowledge, the world of Salidemthía and the Palané Republic as well as a few other places I'll introduce you to as I continue to write. While it's not quite as big and complex as I would like it to be because I haven't had time to drain all the ideas out of my ears, I would at least appreciate it if you refrained from using it as a "campaign setting" without asking me first. I don't think that it'd be a problem for me to let you use it, unless, of coarse, I'm either in a really, really, really bad mood or I let you use it before and you just went and destroyed it. Sure, I think that that will actually happen, but this is for legal security, so I might as well have all my bases covered.

**Chapter One**

My birth-given name is Amelia Gabriela Stontch but I am better known by my alias, Beast. I'm sure you're expecting me to be some kind of horrible monster. Honesetly, I can't tell you if you're right, because I'm no sure myself.

I can not remember any of my childhood before the age of twelve. It was at the age of ten that I was abandoned on the streets of Estella. The only two ways to describe my abandonment are purposeful and ruthless. Unless you've been to Estella, that is before the town was destroyed, you'd probably not understand the reason for those words. You see, it was not by a mere accident that I was abandoned; it was not that I was simply lost.

Estella was a small town on the edge of old Contran Forest. It was not often visited except for the merchants and travelers who used the Trans Baizine-Kotano Caravan. It was no more than a stop over between the two cities. There were no real natural resources around it either. The only potential one was Contran Forest, except that it always seemed to be in the process of dieing and the local people had their superstitions about the place. The few homes that stood around were all in a need to be repaired. The truth is that the few stores and inns would have made better permanent living quarters than the houses of those who worked in them.

This is the place that my memory starts. I had been naïve then. Upon realizing that my parents were gone I smuggled aboard a caravan that was heading north to Baizine. That's where my parents had told me that we were heading. It was a long ride and I nearly got caught a couple of times. I finally made my inhabitance for the trip the bottom of the food wagon. After three days we finally arrived at Baizine.

The only thing that kept Baizine from being a failure like Estella was the fact that it was the first city to be founded in the Salidemthian Sect and therefore holds special historical meaning. It was ventured to by scholars and bards who were interested in information of the past. Because of its large mass of tourism many stores popped up and it soon housed the first university in the Salidemthian Sect. The only other town that has a university is the capital of Salidemthia, Pobrax, which is second in prominence to Raisin's.

I searched the city for many days. I kept myself fed by snatching left over food off of tables at one of the smaller inns while no one was watching. It wasn't the best way to live, but I didn't want to risk asking anybody for food that would send me to the local sheriff. I may have been naïve but not completely stupid.

The realization that I had been truly abandoned dawned on me slowly. It didn't strike suddenly; if it had I may have been in enough despair to have turned myself in to an orphanage. That would have been the end of me. I would have grown up in the orphanage being taught right from wrong and eventually they'd kick me out and I'd work as clerk or apprentice priest somewhere. I would have led a monotonous life till the day I died. But it didn't happen that way. I simply started searching for my parents less and less and eventually not at all. I was then at home on the streets, taking what I could through luck. I made enough money to buy food and a cloak for when it was cold in the barns that I slept in. For the next two years my life seemed to slip me by and I continued to thieve for my life. It became a daily thing, like a job really.

But soon after the second year of this I grew tired of it all and decided I'd go out to find myself something more fulfilling to do. Because I had nobody to tell me what to do I truly felt my freedom, though I lacked comfort. But that was okay because life promised to be long and full of adventures to be taken.


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

I headed east to Jein. Jein is the major port city of Salidemthia. Back then Jein was the place to go if you were looking for adventures. It was a wild city full of surly sailors and cunning cons. It was said that even the barmaids could pick a cow up by its nostrils. The city itself was like its residents, huge and dark. It seemed to me, having only lived in small towns all my life, that the people who lived on one side of town probably had no idea how to get around the other.

I arrived at the town a little before sunset and proceeded to try to figure out a pattern to the town. This proved useless and a waste of time. The town was like the mind of a mentally ill man; streets would go one way then double back on themselves, others would go for a hundred yards then end at a building. It was the result of expanding far too quickly. There was no order on the streets either. There'd be a deli, a blacksmith's, and a school all next to each other with another deli right across the street. All of them seemed to be competing with each other for visitors, like if they didn't get customers the world would end. They would leave their stores to berate the other store owners if it was slow. They would even haggle on the street if it they didn't feel like walking back inside. To my surprise even the school teacher was out in the streets trying to persuade parents to send their children to school. The school, I noticed, derelict.

By the time it started to get dark I still hadn't found an inn. I was walking down the street when I heard the loud sound of a troupe of horns. I looked around quickly and noticed that all the people that were quarreling in the streets and in the stores had suddenly stopped and were walking in different directions. All the store owners were locking the doors to their shops and heading home.

"Better head home quick little girl!" called a tall, bearded man. "You wouldn't wanna be caught out af'er curfew!"

"Excuse me Sir," I called back. He stopped and walked towards me.

"Is there something I kin help you with youngin'?" he asked as he looked me up and down.

"I hope so Sir," I said in my most defenseless and humble voice. "You see Sir, I'm visiting this town with older sibling, we're from Palané, and I can't seem to remember how to get back to our inn. I accidentally got separated from him in a crowd and I've been trying to get back all afternoon."

The man looked sorry for me. "Aw, poor dear. Listen, I wish I could show ya to da inn meself, but tares no way that I could make it back to me own home 'n time." I made sure to give him the saddest and most disappointed face I could muster. "But this 'ere's what I'm gonna do for ya." He bent down and put an arm around my shoulder. He pulled me close to him and put his finger out. "If ya go down that-a-way and make a right at da next street, and be quick about it too, you may be able to catch ol' Nick. Tell him that Ballin sent ya and tell him where yas be staying. 'E goes by a good 'mount o' inns on his way home and should be able ta either get ya to yours or close 'nough to it."

"Thank you Sir!" I said brightening my visage.

"Not a problem little one, jis make sure ya catch Nick."

"I will Sir!" I cried as I curtsied and ran off.

As soon as I was around the corner that the man called Ballin had pointed out I took my gold bag off of my belt and added a few coins to it. I smiled and congratulated myself for the brilliant act.

I walked off with a little bounce in my foot and saw a man closing up his shop. The sign above it read Nicholas' Good Olde Weapons. I walked over to him and repeated my performance.

"Well, which on' is it?" He asked as we started down the street.

I thought hard for a few seconds then sighed and tightened my throat. I made a sound like I was going to cry. "I-I don't remember the name of it Sir. I-It's the big one."

The man started pointing at invisible things in the air and looked like he was very nearsighted. He mumbled for a while but eventually spoke up. "You mean the E.S.M.M?"

It was my turn to think, or at least pretend to, and then I shook my head. "No, Sir, I don't think so. Isn't there another."

"Well, if that isn't it then it's got to be that really rowdy one, and I don't that that's where you're stayin'."

I continued "thinking" and then nodded a little. "You're probably right. That one must be it. The E.S.M.M.," I clarified.

He chattered the whole way there and I was glad to finally get rid of him. I waited at the door until he was out of sight then walked off down the alley. The place he had dropped me off at really was big. It looked more like a mansion than an inn and it had a pair of big, brawny men standing by the door. I didn't think that I had the money to spend on a place like that or if I'd even want to. I could easily settle for something less costly. And I did.

The inns were the only things grouped together and were from that day on a reference point for me. They stood a block away from the docks, which was considered the center of town. The innkeeper at the small inn I stayed in was always looking at me funny but I eventually led him to believe that I was four years older than I actually was; that took a few weeks stay and some extra silver pieces at breakfast. Because it was center city there was always something happening and I was awaken every morning by the singing of bards and the yelling of sailors.

I kept myself from being bored in the evening by visiting some of the other "more rowdy" inns and watching fights. I was very impressed by the fighters who were about as two-faced as myself. They would drink and drink and would honestly seem drunk, but when a fight started they would come out on top without getting a single injury. I made friends with one of them named Philippe.

I bought him drinks once in a while and he bartered his stories to me. They were always funny and full of adventure. They were what I had always longed for. I hoped that by the time I was his age I'd be able to tell someone stories as dramatic as his own. I was a little hesitant when around him at first because I didn't believe he'd think anything of me. What with my being young and a girl. But he didn't seem to notice and I figured it was because of the large amounts of alcohol he imbibed. But one day he shocked me.

The night had started out rather oddly. When I had walked in I had noticed that a local cleric was sitting at one of the tables by the bar. I also saw Ballin laughing with Nicholas and some other guys. It was strange because I knew from talking with Ballin and Nicholas that they did not drink. I doubted the cleric did either.

I had calmly sat down at the bar and greeted the barman like I did everynight. He seemed cheerful enough and I bought a drink for Philippe. I began talking to Philippe about some of the adventures I had today that I could tell in public. He didn't seem to hear me but after a couple minutes spoke up.

"Your parents abandoned you, didn't they?" He whispered. He seemed incredibly sober as he stared at his mug.

I was stunned at first that he had figured it out, and when that was done I was stunned at the mere idea of it. I had never really faced the fact that I had been abandoned. His vocalizing it seemed to trigger a deep sense of remorse in me. I felt my eyes glaze over but I did my best to keep it from going any farther than that.

"You are afraid of going to an orphanage," he told me. "You don't want to be just another one of those forgotten kids."

"And so if I was abandoned," I sniffed boldly and straightened my posture so that I was looking over my nose. "So what if I don't want to go to some stupid orphanage. It's my life. I'm entitled to do whatever I want to do with it."

That was my excuse that I had always used for myself. But at that moment it didn't seem so complete and final.

"How do you get your money, Chris?" Chris was a name I was using.

"That's my business," I responded quickly. I didn't like where this was going.

"I don't think so, my good friend." His voice was deep and hollow, but it was slowly filling up with anger. "Tell me; is it true that you're a thief? Just tell me your not, friend, and we'll go on like this moment never happened. We can go back to swapping drinks for stories and be happy."

I wanted to tell him that I wasn't and I should have had no problem doing so. But I couldn't get the words out. I felt like telling him the truth, but I knew that would ruin everything. So I clamped my jaw closed.

"I asked you a question Chris." Philippe started to stand up. "Is it true that you've stolen from almost every person you've met? Is it true that when you arrived here you entice a man to show you where an inn was and after he told you, you robbed him? Is this true Chris?"

He was now towering over me. I looked up and felt so completely powerless. My lips quivered as I tried to tell him no but the words would not come out correctly. He seemed more sad than angry in my mind. He was my best and only friend but we seemed at that moment to be strangers.

"I don't care that you're living for yourself, Chris," he continued. "I don't care if you don't want to go to some orphanage; you're right, it's your life. But I cannot tolerate being in the presence of a thief." His voice yelled out and everything in the inn was instantly quiet. "I haven't told you this, Chris, but I was like you in some ways when I was little. I was parentless as well, that's how I can sympathize with you. But my parents didn't leave me. No, we were one small, loving family. But when I was about your age our house was robbed. My father tried to stop the thief and got a knife through the heart. My mother… well, she was severely dishonored before she died.

"It's because of this that I can never, ever willingly stand in the same room with a scoundrel like that. It is my sworn duty to kill every rouge who thinks he, or she, can manipulate people. I may be a drunkard, but I have my honor."

There was a pause that seemed to stop time and sound. Finally, with his eyes ablaze in brilliant glory, he whispered to me, "I'm sorry Chris, if that is your real name…"

It all happened in an instant. I was immediately on my feet running through the maze of tables. I could hear Philippe crashing after me. Then I heard a loud bang. I didn't bother to look back to see what it was. I saw a man standing in front of the door. It was Ballin. I changed my direction and sprinted onto a chair, then a table, and then jumped at the window. I tucked myself into a little ball and clenched my cloak around me. The glass almost felt as solid as bricks as I hit it. Then it broke and I was in the night air.

I hit the ground and rolled. I staggered as I got up and tried getting my bearings. Normally Philippe walked me back to my inn to protect me from the gangs that roamed after curfew. Without him I'd have to take my chances. I heard yelling in the inn and looked around for a place to run. I was light headed which distorted my vision. I caught a glimpse of a dark alley and ran for it. I always went for the darkness when I was in trouble.

I made it into the alley and hid behind what I identified by touch and smell as an empty ale barrel. I held my breath to slow my breath and could hear my heart clearly in my head. I could hear a little bit over that pulsating muscle and made out the sound of Philippe yelling. My head had settled but my whole body was shaking in fear. I had never known so much fear from a man. I turned my head and peaked down the ally. The silhouette of Philippe was standing at the entrance to the alley, leaning to one side a little. He was yelling something but I couldn't make it out, perhaps because of some weird mix of his drunken slur and the loud beating of my heart. But I got the idea. He hated me and he would hunt me down until he killed me. It was his unbreakable oath.

Without realizing it I started to sob. Philippe must have heard me because when I looked up he was standing there. I screamed in between sobs at his upraised hand. Something in him seemed to soften at the noise and his hand hesitated. Suddenly he was struck from behind by some glowing projectile. He grunted and turned around. I screamed again. I was finally realizing that I wasn't as tough as I thought I was. My mind was shattered by all the surprises and shock it had gone through already.

Philippe's body jerked as a crossbow bolt struck near his heart. He dropped to his knees and grabbed the bolt. Then I saw a figure rise up behind him. At this point I was screaming and crying hysterically because of the incredible breakdown of my world.

Philippe was at my feet, unmoving a second later. I curled up into an even tighter ball trying to back into the little corner between the barrel and the wall. I wanted to be very far away from my dead friend. I had killed him. If I had just told him the truth, maybe I could have repented for my crimes. Maybe that's what he wanted me to do. Maybe he was planning on sparing me if I had told him the truth.

But I was stubborn and too prideful and now he was dead because I led him into this alley that was being occupied by some merciless gang. The best thing that could happen now was for me to die.

But the worst thing possible happened.

A dark figure suddenly was in front of me as I was crying and sobbing.

"We've saved you Chris." The voice caressed my ears and promised me many things. "Now it's time for you to join us. It's what you want. To become stronger, to have adventures."


	3. Chapter Three

A.N.- Thanks for the Review and sorry again. I fixed it! Normally I write these things in one sitting, but this chapter I did in two and I obviously got the names mixed up. Hopefully it won't happen again. Where is(are) the preposition mistake(s)? I realize its bad of me to ask rather than finding them for myself, but at the moment I'm feeling too lazy to read through the whole thing and possibly miss it(them).

**Chapter Three**

The next three days blurred together for me. That's how long it took me to sort out my thoughts. You'd think that a street kid like me would probably not have been affected by Philippe's death, that I was somehow strong and "battle hardened". But that wasn't true. Philippe was a friend of mine and even though I knew that death could be right around the corner for me, I wasn't expecting Philippe to die. He was strong and willful. He shouldn't have died. But back then I still believed in Fate. And Philippe's death scared me. I now knew that Fate was stronger than mortals. I could be dead at any moment and wouldn't have a say in the matter. Before Philippe died, I thought that I could fight or run away from death. But apparently one could not escape death when it came.

For the most part my so called rescuers left me alone for that time period. There was David, however. He was human, like me, and only a couple years older. He would come and bring me meager meals then stay for a while and talk to me. He would try to tell me things that I knew weren't true. That I had to get over this slump and get on with my life. That life was full of hard times but I had to get moving again. That that was what I had done when my parents had died. And that his little "guild" would treat me like a family. He promised they would love me like their own little sister.

But I knew that this wasn't true. I didn't have to get over. I could just sit around and die. Maybe that would appease Philippe. He probably had wanted me to die. I had tricked him and led him on. I, a thief and therefore his worst enemy, had played with his feelings. I could just stay here and waste away to nothing. Then the rats could eat my body so there were no remains. I would have never existed.

I knew it wasn't true that I had gotten over my parent's death. That was blatantly obvious by the way I had lost control of myself in the inn. I wasn't sure if I was still completely over it. Up until this point all I had ever really thought about was survival. Now I could think about my abandonment while I was wasting away. What could have possessed them to give up their daughter? Was I really that awful? Was I a monster they didn't want anymore? Was I a monster that had killed Philippe?

A family? No, I didn't need a family. I had had enough family already. I had my parents, and they abandoned me. I had Philippe and he tried to kill me. I didn't need anyone else posing as a family.

On the fourth day I was sitting on my box, playing with the food that David had left, but not eating it, when my ears caught a sound. I paused, listened some more, and thought that I had not actually heard anything when I caught it again. Soon it was plenty loud enough to hear and I was starting to be filled with a little bit of happiness.

Eventually I saw the maestro through the half closed door. I had heard from conversations "the guild" held in the other room that his name was Goombuckle. He was a gnome and therefore was only about as tall as myself and I couldn't tell how old he was. He was always whistling or playing the small conga he had salvaged from somewhere. All the songs he played on it were jubilant and after a while the drum and your heart seemed to become one. It had brought a peace to my soul when he played it during those first three days. He was very good at the conga and I figured that must have come from not having much to do for much of the day. Unlike the other three people in "the guild" he wasn't a rogue. He seemed like a nice guy from the talks I had heard him included in. I guess the reason he was part of a gang was because he grew up in this town. I had found out by watching through the cracked door that he could also do some magic. The one he did most often, where he would cause a collection of floating light balls to appear and would have them fly around. It was entertaining, though I didn't pay much mind to it for those first few days.

Eventually, I had lost enough of the depression and ventured to start a conversation.

"How long have you been playing that, Goombuckle?"

Goombuckle's head snapped towards me and a smile crawled across his face. "Why, just about forever Chris."

I was standing halfway in the doorway and the other half leaned weakly against the wall of my room, which in reality was just a bigger sized closet.

"Where did you learn to play like that?"

Goombuckle seemed to be enjoying the conversation already. "Learn? I didn't learn nothing from nobody." He clasped his hand over his chest. "This is where you learn to play."

We exchanged some more talk then I was directed to a place where I could wash up a bit. I was weak from not eating so Goombuckle cheerfully drew some water for me. After I cleaned my face and hands as best as I could I went back to my room and Goombuckle left for some reason. A little bit later he returned with a decent meal. I ate it quickly and went to sleep listening to the friendly voice of Goombuckle. It seemed to me that he had been waiting for someone to stick around with him during the day.

I ate a few more meals and by the end of the next day I was feeling close enough to normal. Goombuckle played his drum for me often and I learned a lot about The Guild, which I accepted to become part of the following morning. Besides David and Goombuckle, a halfling named Midas Fleetfoot and another human named Michelle Tomlin. In comparison with the other gangs, this one apparently stayed out of the fighting. While they could fight, as I realized all too well, they chose to stick to pick-pocketing and sometimes lifting some ammo or a new dagger from one of the local smiths. I asked why they didn't join in, I thought they would be able to do pretty well holding territory. I didn't get a response from them as to why they don't, David just changed the subject.

I went out the next morning with the group but felt kind of bad for leaving Goombuckle behind. I wondered if it would be better to stay with him and keep him company, but the rest of the group kept urging me to go. They were excited to have me with them and suddenly they seemed more like a group of friends than a gang. I was slowly rethinking my decision that I didn't need a family.

When we left the house I saw that it was actually on the outskirts of town where the city gave way to more rural country. To my surprise I realized that it had been quite silent while I was staying there and should have caught my attention that we were not in the city anymore. I suppose that I had been so used to smaller sized towns that it didn't strike me as strange to not wake up to the hustle and bustle of the city. After all, my stay in Jein had been very short thus far in comparison with the length of my life.

It was dark enough when we left that no one would have seen us. I kept my cloak wrapped around me and my hood up, still fearing that someone might recognized me when I reached town. Strangely, the others weren't cloaked at all and looked like anyone else might.

We walked for a long time and when we arrived at town the sun pronounced that it was its turn to take control of the sky. The moon seemed to argue with it, but by the time the sun had rose another few feet the moon had given up. I did not recognize the part of town that we had come to and voiced my thought.

"Don't worry," David smiled, "it may not look like it, but we're still in Jein. This is the other half of Jein. You won't find many gangs over here and you won't need to worry about anyone coming over this way that might know you."

I lowered my hood and did my best to straighten my hair. I still felt a bit nervous that someone might see me who'd recognize me. But David was correct in that this didn't look like Jein. Sure, the streets still did odd things but there wasn't that rushing sense that was near the docks. It was still a city yet it seemed to be on the verge of being regal. Everyone had clothing that didn't look like it was three years old and everyone seemed friendly enough. All the stores were calm and there was no haggling. David knew a couple of shop owners and said hello as he passed them.

"Alright," David said to me, "rule number one of the guild. No stealing from friends."

I shot a look at him to see how suspiciously he was looking at me. To my shock he was smiling. He didn't seem to think that I had ever thought about it.

He stretched an arm around my shoulder. "We go on honor around here. Well, it's a rogue's honor anyway. Sure, we take a few coins sometimes or more bolts if we need them but we don't take them from friends." He put his arms up and stretched. He uttered a yawn then grinned at me with a mischievous look in his eyes. "Unless it's just for fun."

He tossed a leather bag at me. I caught it and stopped. It was my coin purse that I kept on my belt.

David and the others walked over to a lanky man who had a vegetable stand on the street. The man was rather old and gave them a big smile as they came near. He had spectacles on that seemed to be rather old and beat up. He was one of the only people on the street that looked like a farmer. His baggy pants were patched in some places and his hair was obviously white but you had to take a second glance to make sure because of all the dust and dirt that was in it. An old ragged cap sat upon his head; it appeared to have been with him since he was at least half my age, when it actually fit.

"How y'all doin' this beautiful day?" The man greeted cheerfully. I was standing behind David and kept my eyes focused on his hands.

"Just fine Mr. Slimble," David responded. Everyone else smiled and said hello as well. "How are the crops so far?"

"Well," Mr. Slimble sighed and seemed to look off to his farm. I could tell he was going to be a little long winded in his answer. "The 'matoes are handling just fine so far, but I jist found one taken this mornin'. I e'spect it was a rabbit or a ground hog or somethin' that kin burrow, 'cause I aint found no hole in the fencin' 'round the patch. The corn has been a bit slow in its growin' but I have no other c'plaint 'bout it. Come to think 'bout it, whatever's been getting' at my 'matoes's probly, the same dern thing that's been eating my taters." He gave a long 'hmm', took his hat off and scratched his head then came back to us. "But that's 'bout enough of my yammerin' over the vegits."

"Well, how about Mrs. Slimble?" David offered. He moseyed over to Mr. Slimble's stand and leaned backwards against it, supporting his weight with his hands on the edge of it. I thought I caught some kind of odd motion of his hands but couldn't make it out.

Mr. Slimble took his hat off again and sighed. He smacked his headwear against his pants in an attempt to remove the dust from them. "Same ol', same ol' I s'pose. House aint big 'nough for 'er. Family aint big 'nough for her. I say one kids 'nough, once you get more 'an one, then ya gotta worry 'bout dividin' the property. And if it's a girl ya gotta keep both eyes on 'er at all times or else she'll run off with some nobody," he sent a glance over to Michelle and said quickly, "not that I'm sayin' there's anythin' wrong with girls, 'course. I'm jist sayin' that when its time for 'em to git to marryin' it gits a bit difficult for the parents 'cause we care so much. You 'member that when you get about the age, Michelle." He pointed a finger at her.

"I will, Mr. Slimble. You don't have to worry about me," Michelle insured.

Mr. Slimble sighed and looked at the ground again. "Not that I could keep up with a youngin. I'm too blasted old."

I must have done some little thing that caught his eye, because suddenly he looked up at me. "Whoa there! Where'd you come from, little one." I didn't say anything immediately. I wasn't sure what to say. "Is she with you, David?"

"Yes sir. She's an orphan that just sorta showed up at our doorstep yesterday. She looked half starved when we first saw her. My mom took her in right away and probably nearly killed her with all the stuff she tried to do to her. All night long she was asking if Chris here was comfortable or too warm or full enough. It was a near riot. My mom made so much of a fuss over her." David was grinning sideways at me.

"Must say I kin see why. She's got very nice hair. But couldn't you get her to wash it? It's all dirty! Aint no way for a girl to go 'round." I was starting to blush at the compliment and gave a quick glance at the hair that fell down my shoulders. Was it really that nice? It wasn't blonde or red or any special color, just black.

"Trust me sir, we tried to get her to wash it but she wouldn't. My mom had me chase her around for half the night trying to catch her to put her in the bath. She's quick as a fox I tell you and about as afraid of water as a house cat."

"Well don't she talk none?"

"She talks, she's just shy. I suppose it comes from living on the street. Must have been hard for her out there." He walked over to me and rested a hand on my shoulder. "Would you mind saying hello to Mr. Slimble?"

"Nice to meet you sir," I whispered, playing the part David had given me as a quiet, timid girl. I didn't mind it much, I had played the role before when I needed it, but I was starting to not like it as much. Maybe a bit of Philippe's rowdiness and openness had rubbed off on me. Or maybe I just felt like I was growing up and didn't want to act like a little girl anymore.

"Well, we've got to get going sir. It was nice talking to you." David turned and walked down the street. I kept right next to him and acted like I was younger than I actually was.

"Yep," Mr. Slimble called after us, "make sure to stay out of trouble now. Not like ya've ever been in any trouble! Take care of your new sister David! Don't let her get away from you. She'll be a real looker when she grows up! You'll have to teach her how to stay in one place and take baths." Mr. Slimble chuckled to himself.

"I suppose we have to keep this charade up from now on," I muttered to David.

"Unless you want people to get suspicious because the stories don't add up correctly," David smiled and looked down at me.

I waited while David said a quick hello to someone he knew then brought up the stand. "What did you do when you leaned against the stand?" I whispered so the other two, who were a few feet behind us, couldn't hear.

David looked shocked for a moment, then smiled again. "You saw that? You must have some eyes to have seen that." He thought for a moment as we walked and then said quickly. "Here, I'll introduce you to Mr. Bungle."

Mr. Bungle was a monster of a man. He easily stood taller than any other man I had met thus far in my life. His whole body seemed to be covered in fur and he had a beard that came down to his waist, which meant that it was really long. He had a deep, gruff voice that almost vibrated the armor and weapons that he was surrounded by. His hands were deeply calloused and shown some scars. His chest and arms seemed ready to bust from his shirt. This time I didn't have as much trouble acting afraid. I knew that if he wanted to he could tear me limb from limb.

"Good Morning David!" He uttered and I looked to see if any of the armor or weapons on the walls would fall.

"Good Morning Mr. Bungle." David shouted.

"Who's this you have with you? I haven't seen her around here before."

David went on to relate the story of how I had supposedly ended up in his abode. This time it was a little more vivid and interesting than his first telling. I noticed that something was obviously wrong with Mr. Bungle because David made sure to fully form his words and the volume of his voice was a little higher. At the end of David's explanation, Mr. Bungle stuck out his huge arm and greeted me. I took his hand and mumbled my hello. Mr. Bungle was gripping my hand firmly and when I said hello he cocked his head towards me and shouted, "You've got to speak up kiddo; I'm a little hard of hearing."

This explained why David had been speaking so oddly. I tilted my head up towards his face and yelled, "Hello, it is nice to meet you. My name is Chris."

"It's very nice to meet you too, Chris." Mr. Bungle yelled back with a big smile on his face; this time a bow fumbled off the wall but he paid no mind to it. He tightened his grip on my hand severely and shook it. I cringed a little but did my best not to cry out. "You've got some resilience in ya, I see," Mr. Bungle had stopped shouting. He released my hand and was still smiling from ear to ear. "Why, the first time I shook Davey's hand he whined like a little girl."

I moved my hand behind my back slowly so he wouldn't notice and attempted to make the fingers work. It felt like he had crushed every bone in my hand but I wouldn't let it show. While I was doing so I looked up to David and giggled. Not only had he apparently 'whined like a little girl' but he also had a funny nickname.

At that moment a customer walked in and Mr. Bungle looked up to see who it was. I did so too and observed that it was a gnome whose age I could not identify but was obviously towards the younger stages of a gnome's life. He wore a ferret around his neck which I thought at first was simply a fur, but then its eyes popped open and it raised itself up to see where it was. The gnome was not armored and carried no weapons, though I suppose that was why he had come to the smith.

"Well, here's a customer. Now you all run along now and maybe stop in latter if you want."

We said good-bye and as we were leaving I heard the gnome telling Bungle what he wanted over and over again. Every time Bungle told him to say it a little louder and every time the gnome would repeat it a little louder. I could still half-hear the sound of Mr. Bungle's voice requesting for him to repeat after the door was shut.

"Davey?" I asked with a sideward smile.

"Hey, if you want to continue breathing, you never heard that," David said.

He was smiling and chuckled at the joke and I did too. But at the same time I couldn't fully accept it as a joke after I had seen what he was able to do. Deep down I was afraid that some day I might be in Philippe's shoes.


	4. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

A few weeks later, in the dark of night, I went out for a walk along the streets of Jein.

I had lived very comfortably among my new friends. After a week I was moved from my closet to a room with an old cot in it. I found out, at about the same time, that Goombuckle had been the only person living in the old run-down farm house. I had also learned from talking with people around town that the reason it was left abandoned was because it was believed to be haunted. I figured that Goombuckle had something to do with that.

I enjoyed talking with Goombuckle at night before going to bed. He always had some story to tell or a new song to play. I'd buy him something every once in a while with some of the money I "earned". They were just small trinkets but he would take so much joy in them that it appeared he'd bring them with him to the grave. When he wasn't playing his conga he'd finger them or polish them. One was a small, and I mean very small, iron horse I had Bungle craft for me. Another was a nice looking wooden star I had paid Mr. Slimble to make. There were others that I had procured from one place or another but Goombuckle seemed to take special interest in these. I wished I could make him something. I knew it would be above all the other things I had given him. But I never tried because I knew I couldn't.

Other than that, the others and I would walk through town almost every morning. I met a lot of people in west Jein and slowly became at such ease that the idea I might be recognized simply vanished. Our little group was, in fact, thieves. Midas enjoyed his job very much, which seemed to bother David. Michelle didn't seem to notice this aspect of Midas and eagerly took the portion of coins Midas divvied out to her.

Michelle and I had been drawn to each other over time because we were the only females in the group. We didn't talk much, certainly not as much as Goombuckle and I did, but we had a sort of friendship that went without being said. We knew we had each other's back if the other was ever in need. She would do my hair sometimes, though her own was too short for me to do anything with. Yet she seemed content to just look at mine. She would always talk about my hair when she did it. I appreciated the compliments but felt a little odd. She made it clear that she didn't like her own hair that much and really liked mine. I suppose it made me a little uncomfortable to have her talk like that, because after Mr. Slimble's comment I had decided I really liked my hair too.

It had dawned on me one day that perhaps David was the best off out of all of us. Goombuckle and I obviously had no real home. Midas and Michelle were always ready to lift something of value. David, on the other hand, never appeared to enjoy any of the slightly less noble things we did. If he ever agreed on anything it was only grudgingly. He also seemed to have no problem up keeping his clothes. I suppose I must have been a little blind to not have noticed the difference between his apparel and that of the others earlier. There was also the issue of what he would do once in a while at Slimble's stand.

After the first time I saw him he had made sure he was a little more discreet about it. Most of the time I could have sworn that I was just seeing things but I still had a feeling he was doing it. I tried to find out what he was doing after I was at least a little sure that he had done it, but he would always find some way to get me to move along if he saw me heading to where he had done it. I swear that if I could just have gotten an idea of what he was doing I'd have left it alone.

That was what I was out there that night to do; to find out the truth about David. To find out why he was constantly against stealing and why his clothes were never too old. And once I found out his living conditions, I'd ask him what he did at Slimble's stand.

I was sticking to the shadows as best as I could with the full moon. I suppose I could have chosen a better night to do this on, but I had become impatient. I wanted to know now and a couple weeks simply wouldn't do. I used every dark corner I could find and slowly followed him through the city. He looked back occasionally and I'd stop breathing. I knew if I got caught it could end with my funeral, which might be a reason not to actually ask him about Slimble's when I came to his home.

To my surprise David, at one point, stopped heading towards East Jein where I expected him to go and ducked down an alley back towards West. I lost him for a moment and approached the alley very slowly and quietly, in case he was still there. When I peeked around the corner I saw him swiftly walking down the street on the other side. I followed quickly and ended up knocking over a barrel. To my amazement I started a dog who ran out of the alley and down another street. Having heard the barrel David had turned around and put his hand on his dagger. He saw the dog and must have assumed it was the cause and eased up a bit. I made sure to be more careful of what I was doing.

David approached a large house on the main street that led into Jein. I had been on this street once before and knew that it was a mask of the real Jein. The upper class of Jein lived on this one street and made sure to keep it looking nice. I was shocked to see David pause once more at the door, mutter something, then simply open the door like he owned the place.

I avoided the windows by squatting down and made my way to an alley across the street from the house. The alley was lit dimly by the lanterns that burned inside the houses that had windows facing the alley. There was, however, a good amount of shadow to accommodate my hiding.

As I watched from my hiding place I saw David put his cloak on a hanger in the front room. A nicely dressed woman, not rich but at the same time not middle class, walk in and peck him on the cheek. He smiled and said something to her that I could not make out. The two then proceeded to walk out of the room and out of site. They next appeared in the room on the other side of the doorway. There was a large, round table set with more food than I've ever seen in one place before, unless of course you count the food wagon I had stowed away in to get to Baizine. They sat down and ate for a long time. A very, very long time for my hungry self. After they were done, David disappeared through a door again. I next saw him in a bedroom on the upper floor. He was dressed in very nice clothing now. He opened is window to the evening air and leaned out. He looked up and watched the stars, seeming to be some prince or something regal like that to me; perhaps a philosopher. Finally, after another incredibly long time, he took one last deep breath of the air and closed the window. The lantern in his room went out and I knew he was sleeping on some beautifully comfortable mattress.

I hadn't noticed it, but at some point during the time I had been sitting there, I had slowly risen to my feet and was now leaning on a window sill. I didn't even realize it until I heard a lady scream the words "peeping tom". I whirled towards where I had heard them coming from, which I suddenly realized was on the other side of the window I was standing outside of. I saw a wet lady running out of the room and wrapping herself in a towel as she did so.

I didn't miss a beat. I was off running a second later and heard the back door of the house explode open with the yelling of a man as I passed the back alley. I risked a glance back as I ran and saw a group of yelling men running after me with brandished swords and knives. I weaved my way through the network of alleyways that I had committed to memory as I tried to lose my pursuers. But they were persistent, and were able to look every way for me at each corner because they could run faster.

Somehow I ended up in East Jein to my chagrin. The men had apparently stopped at the unofficial dividing line but I kept running. I wasn't sure what had drawn me here, perhaps my subconscious longed to find Philippe for protection. But now that the danger was gone, the overt danger at least, I had complete control of my mind and I knew I wouldn't have found him. I ran a course back towards the outskirts without the slightest hesitation.

I was almost out of there when a man leapt from the shadows and right into my path.

"Hey there baby," he said slyly. He grinned for a moment, then it faded away. "What the-"

I hadn't wasted the moment he had. The second he jumped out five feet in front of me my hand had gone to my dagger. It was only about two seconds between when he first showed up and the result. Somehow in that time I had drawn my dagger and plunged it deep into his chest. He didn't see the dagger until it was in him because of the cloak. I left it in him a second longer and he stared at it in horror. Then I ripped it out, not straight back from him but along the rib so that it left a long bloody gash. Was that all self-defense? Or was there some anger in the attack? Yes, perhaps. I'd decide to which question I was answering later.

I didn't think on the whole way back to the farm. I had learned by now that thinking was bad after things like that. There was simply too much to think about. The way to do it was to forget about it for now and reintroduce it little by little during the next couple of days.

When I had ran directly to my room I must have scared Goombuckle, because it was common of me to come and sit down with him for a while. He had come after me quietly and slowly after a few minutes. I heard him coming down the hall, taking his time, trying to be quiet about it but not being very good at it. He stood next to my doorway, because there was no door to my room, and was silent a little longer. He probably had his back against the wall like it would be a little more privacy to me. I was busy staring blankly at the ceiling meanwhile. Finally he cleared his throat and started speaking.

"Are you alright, Chris?" he whispered softly from the hall.

_Was this the first person I have killed?_ I thought.

"Was it really that bad, Chris?"

_No, you killed Philippe_.

"Chris, I'm sorry. Whatever happened, I'm sorry it had to happen to you."

_No, I didn't kill Philippe, the others did._

"Can you give me some kind of clue that you're alright in there?"

_But didn't you want him dead at that moment,_

"Please, Chris, give me something. If your hurt I want to know."

_Just because you cared only about yourself._

"I can help you, Chris. But only if you let me."

_So you did kill him._

There was silence in the hall.

_What are you saying? I didn't do it!_

I thought I heard Goombuckle mutter something.

_What about the other man._

There was complete silence, both in my head and in the hall.

_Did you mean to kill him? Did you WANT to kill him?_

The silence in the hall seemed to be going on for an eternity.

Then, my mind whispered, _Did it make you feel better to kill him?_

I broke down in tears and rolled out of bed. I took off my cloak without a thought and crawled to the corner. I didn't want to be comfortable. I wanted to be cold and scared and feel the cold, hard bricks against my back again. I didn't deserve anything. Not a thing. Not even this kindness that Goombuckle and the others had shown me. Not a warm feeling from anyone…

Suddenly, as I convulsed in the corner with my knees tucked as close to my body as they would go and my arms wrapped around to keep them there, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I slowly looked up and my tears turned my vision into one big light. I cleared my eyes on my shoulder and reassessed my world. There was a single globe of light floating in front of my face, doing circles. I batted at it with a hand, even though I knew where it had come from. The light flew back out of the room and returned with two more of its friends.

The new lights hovered a bit away from each other and a little above my eye level. The original one then began to swing back and forth, like a pendulum. I smiled at the picture it made and choked on a laugh. They shook with excitement and then flew around in a line, whirling and swooping. I wasn't sure why it made me so happy, but it did. I sat tucked in the corner but I held my head up and smiled and laughed a little as they gave me their performance. They ran around the room doing things and at one point ran up my hair that lay down my shoulders. Even though they never made a sound I understood their meaning. Because they spoke a universal language:

the language of the heart.

The thing that all beautiful creations come from.

I should have taken the advice I had given myself, that thinking about it was a bad idea. But all alone I could not do that. I realized then how much some kind of bond with some kind of creature was actually needed.

…

By the next day Goombuckle had helped me sort out my feelings. He was the closest thing, I found, to a father that I had ever had. Yet he was a friend at the same time and I knew I didn't have to like him and he didn't have to help me because of blood. That made him even more valuable than a father, or that's what I suppose he was to me, though it is very unfair to say so since I never had a real father. But I knew that he was at least as good.

One thing I had learned for sure the previous night was this: faced with uncertainty, the mind of most sentient creatures will believe what it wants to believe. It had occurred to me, though I didn't voice it out loud, that the two people who had gotten a close but obscured look at me, had seen me as two different sexes. The lady had obviously expected anyone outside her bathing room window to be a "peeping tom" or a boy. The guy shouldn't have been able to discern anything about me because of my body being completely covered by my cloak. This leaves only that he was expecting to assault a girl.

Before David got there in the morning I made Goombuckle swear never to mention the previous night to David. He swore he wouldn't and I instantly knew he'd keep his promise. But it didn't make me feel any less anxious when David came around. I knew that the commotion caused by me was certainly enough to wake him. Unless he hadn't been asleep when the lady screamed there shouldn't have been any way for him to have glimpsed me as I ran away, but there was that little bugging feeling in the back of my head that gnawed on my nerves. My logical side told me that David probably wouldn't bring it up because it risked him giving away where he lived. By his behavior on the way back to his house the previous night I assumed he didn't want anyone finding out where he lived.

"Hey, Midas, you weren't on Main Street last night, were you?" David called as he entered the front door.

My skin turned to stone.

"No, why?" Midas called back.

"There was a peeping tom out and I figured it could be you," David laughed.

"That's real funny, you looser."

"Really, they said it was a _short_ humanoid and I just automatically thought: Midas."

"You know, this 'short' thing really isn't as funny as you think it is," Midas, who was conscientious of his height, shot back. "I'll have you know I'm one of the taller folks of my race."

"What's up with you, Chris?" David asked as he walked into the room.

I fumbled with the words for a second and David raised an eyebrow. Then I finally decided on a course of action. "You guys disgust me on how leniently you talk about peeping toms. I, for one, am appalled that anyone would think of doing such a thing." I made sure to hold my head extra high and look very angry.

David seemed to by it but I could tell he thought something was wrong.

The front door had opened again while I was ranting and Michelle now called over from the kitchen, "Whatcha' guys talking about?"

"We were talking about the peeping tom that was out in West Jein last night," David explained. "Did you here about it?"

"No," Michelle said through a mouthful of semi-fresh bread. She was walking through the door that separated the kitchen from the meeting room. "But I have to agree with Chris. You guys are pigs."

"What? I didn't say anything! It was all David!" Midas defended himself as he continued to focus on trying to remove a coin from the center of a stack on the table without causing them all to fall.

"Hey, I didn't really say anything about it, either! I was just teasing Midas!"

"So now it's funny to be a peeping tom?" Michelle demanded. I couldn't tell if she was just having her own fun or if she was genuinely angry.

"No, no! Of course not! It's just that-"

"Hey David, what were you doing on Main Street anyway?"

I knew I shouldn't have asked. I knew I was already risking too much. But I wanted to know how he'd respond.

I heard Goombuckle stop tapping his drum. I could feel his eyes on me.

David eyed me for a second and I made sure to keep an innocent look on my face, like it had just occurred to me and I wasn't implying anything. He seemed to accept this and cleared his throat, "I was helping Mr. Slimble close up his stand. He had fallen asleep and I happened to walk by on my way back to East Jein. I woke him up and helped him pack up."

Michelle and Midas, who had also stopped, obviously believed him and went back to what they were doing. Goombuckle acted the same way and I went back to running my fingers through my hair. I felt David look me over and knew he was doing the same to the others, and also knew that at the same time he was acting cool about it and just making it look like he was just looking around.

Nothing was said about that night from then on, not even between Goombuckle and I. It was buried, I hoped, and I wouldn't be stupid and risk exhuming it again.


	5. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

"Help! Someone help me!" I screamed.

I was running down a long, ancient hallway. I knew what was following me and didn't want to look back. It was bad enough just to hear the rumbling of it. I couldn't out run it. I was wearying and it was tireless. This was no match. If I wanted to get away with my life I needed to loose the thing. Easier said than done, right?

I was older and obviously stronger. I still had my old cape, but where it wasn't sewn it was torn and tattered and the color was well faded. It no longer surrounded me either. It functioned more like a cape than a cloak really. Other than that I wasn't wearing much. It all boiled down to a pair of leather shoes and a padded leather tunic. Both were relatively new and unworn.

Suddenly there was an even louder rumbling and I felt my feet lose their traction. I reached out with my arms and managed to grab the other side of the pit. I could hear _it_ louder now. I quickly pulled myself back up and ran as fast as I could. My leg was hurt but I ignored it. I could now feel the air from _its_ advancement against my back, or was that just my paranoid imagination. I didn't bother to look.

I spotted a crack in the wall and dove into it at the last second. I took a deep breath as the boulder passed and let it out slowly. I gave a sigh and shuddered at the thought of what would have happened to me if it had caught up.

The crack extended further into the darkness and I decided to follow it. I crept along as quietly as I could and listened as carefully as possible for anything ahead. It seemed to go on forever. After twenty feet all the available light was gone and I had to get along by sense other than sight. Through these senses I learned that the crack was becoming increasing more dank and humid. After a few minutes the walls were even slimy with wet moss. My shoes were soaking up the water and making it more difficult to walk. Eventually I decided to take them off and carry them.

At first the slowly moving water tickled my feet a little, but soon it began to make them numb and I started to think about putting my shoes back on. But that was short lived as I slowly made out a pinpoint of light out in the distance. Originally it had seemed like only a mirage yet as grew closer it grew and became a definite light source. At this point I had given up trying to move quietly in the water and now I sprinted for the light. My numb feet had forgotten about the danger that could possibly lay in wait in these ruins.

I passed out of darkness and into what seemed at first to be sunlight. I blinked a couple times to adjust my eyes. When they finally functioned correctly I caught my breath and backed up into the wall.

Before me stood a huge statue of Nerull. His scythe standing close to his body and his cloak wrapped loosely around his bones. He seemed to be laughing at the mortality around him. His eyes were two large rubies and the hood of his cloak was made of gold mesh. At his feet lay slain heroes and great men and wizards. They sat in a puddle that was colored red with some sort of sparkling crystal dust. One arm was stretched out and pointed straight at myself. Hoping that it was not myself he was pointing at, I looked up.

To my horror I saw an old noose hanging above my head. A body was already in occupancy of it. I could not say I knew who the body was, but I felt that I had known it. It was already severely cut in many places and there were five jeweled daggers protruding from the chest.

I stumbled away from it and pressed myself into a corner. This place contained more evil than I had ever known in my life. I looked again to the far wall and saw that it was lined by openings. Some had been covered up with dirt but others lay open. Most that were open were empty; however several were filled with bloodstained bones.

I gritted my teeth and took a breath to calm myself. I was not going to allow this to shake me. I was still in control of my body and mind and would make it out of this place. I didn't know who it was above me, but I couldn't do anything for him now. Suddenly a movement caught my eyes.

I looked up and saw a strange, young lady getting up as if out of sleep. Her resting spot was in the depression made where the robed arm holding the scythe bent back inwards from its straight out extension and pressed the fist against Nerull's chest. She stretched and yawned. She then let her eyes, rimmed with some black substance, open wide as if she just noticed me. The movement didn't seem to bother the stitching that was below her right eye.

"Oh, why Beast, I didn't know you were here! It's good to see you again old friend. If I had known you were coming I would have prepared something special for you," she mocked through blood red lips.

She was dressed from head to toe in black clothing embroidered with small red stones that formed symbols I did not recognize. She wore a long sleeved top that was tight around the abdomen and loose at the arms. It stopped halfway up her breast where a jade bead necklace lay with a ruby at the center. Her long skirt followed the same pattern in terms of fit as the shirt but at the point that it became loose it was sectioned into three strips that, depending on the stance, did or did not cover her legs. On her wrists she wore bracelets of black and red colored gems. Upon her shoulder length, black hair sat a tiara of gold with the same gem scheme as her other jewelry.

I felt rage boil up inside of me at the sight of the person. I could not give a reason to it. It was instantaneous and unquestionable. It was an absolute anger and it gave no room for the repentance of the target.

"My dear Beast, don't get angry now. He knew what he was asking for when he came here," Her lips spread into a large, haughty smile. "If you can't accept that, then take some solace in knowing that you'll be with him soon."

She leapt across a small gap from the arm to one of the walkways that were along the upper holes. She slowly and majestically walked down a set of stairs that wrapped around the circular room. I felt the pressure from the boil build up and ensured it that it would be released soon. She finally reached the last step and gave a giddy little skip off. Meanwhile I had stepped out of the small trench that led the water to the nearly stagnant, crescent shaped moat that separated where I was standing and Nerull.

"You got lucky last time," she grimaced, pointing to the stitching. "You won't be this time. Oh," she smiled remembering something, "and I've invested in this, just in case." She drew a long, silver scimitar from her belt.

Then, out of no where, her body began to grown younger. Her incision disappeared and her hair shortened and changed color. All the finely crafted jewelry and clothing she wore was replaced with a loose pair of ripped, brown colored pants and a patched, short sleeved shirt. I stood there shocked as I realized that Michelle was standing there. Then, one of the covered holes behind Nerull busted open and out limped the skeletal remains of Philippe. Another one collapsed and Ballin and Nicholas in the form of more skeletons walked forward. Other walls broke and soon I was confronted by every person I had ever known and many I didn't.

There was a loud grinding noise and when I looked up Nerull himself had come to life. This time there was no doubting that he was pointing at me. His eyes shown with a light that did not come from the same source as the light that lit the room. It came from the depths of his hatred and joy, his feelings on mortals and what he could do with them. His grinning jaw opened and issued a deep voice that shook my bones.

"Beast, Amelia, Chris. The time will come for your own death, like it had come for all these people." He swept his stone arm over the infernal crowd that stood before him. "I will offer you a way out, if you were to simply choose to follow me." I didn't answer him, I could feel a pride that I owned and would not allow me to do such. "You have great potential, Beast. I will await your decision."

Everything began to swim in my mind. I barely made out the approaching horde. I tried to wield my blade but I couldn't get a grip on it. My world was falling apart. I fell to my knees and clutched my head. I tried to focus on one spot on the floor but my mind simply wouldn't. The tortured screams of banshees and ghosts were filling my head. I pleaded for help but it wouldn't come.

Then, through it all I felt my body shake from a roar that would belong to one of the deadly cats that roamed forests. The yell shut out all the other sounds and all was silent. I took my hands off my head slowly and looked around bewildered. Everything was black. There was no "world", just a dark plain.

_Where did that roar come from?_ I asked myself. _It was as if it were right next to me… or right…_

I collapsed from the experience.

…

My eyes shot open and I sat bolt-right in my bed. My body and cloak were drenched in sweat. I checked myself. I was young again. I was wearing the street close that I wore with David and his gang. I was in my run down room on my old, and now soaked, mattress.

I heard feet running from down stairs. It was a single pair. They went up the stairs and then I heard a crash and a scraping noise. They reached my door and I saw Goombuckle panting as he looked wide-eyed in fear.

"Chris! Are you well Chris? I heard you scream! What happened?" he gasped as he tried to catch his breath.

I was embarrassed. Poor Goombuckle had gotten so scared for my safety when it was just a bad dream.

"I'm sorry, Goombuckle," I apologized and turned my face away from his to hide the embarrassment. "It was just a… um…"

"Oh," Goombuckle exhaled and leaned all his weight on the door frame, "thank goodness. I thought that someone might have snuck by me and… well, it doesn't matter what I thought, I guess. Anyway, if you're alright I'll leave you to hopefully get some better sleep." He turned to leave then added hastily, "If there's anything you need to talk about just ask me."

"No, I'm alright," I told him. "It was just a bad dream."

"Ok. Good night."

As he left the door frame I changed my mind.

"Hey, Goombuckle?"

"Yes, Chris?" he asked popping his head back into the doorway.

I thought for a moment before asking. "What do you think of dreams?" It sounded rather silly out loud.

He smiled and pulled a chair over to my bed. It felt good to have him around. Before I had moved here I had never had someone to talk to like this. If I had a nightmare I would have to deal with it all by myself.

"Well, I'm not really sure what to think of dreams myself. They seem to be all over the place. But I can tell you about some of the things others think. For example, I've heard people say that dreams tell us what we're really feeling or about some of our fears. Other people have told me that dreams are used to tell the future. Similar to this, others have told me that dreams are used by gods to communicate with mortals. I have also heard that dreams come from another plain. Now, I don't understand anything about plains; I've just been told that they exist. The fellow who told me about them said that he thinks there's one no one else has ever heard of. This is an anti-reality of sorts. At least that's what he told me. Once again I don't understand what he could have been talking about, but he seemed to be convinced. I'm a musician, not a sage." He was silent for a moment as he thought. "Well, that's pretty much it, at least as far as I can remember."

"Thank you," I whispered.

"Always a pleasure, Chris. Always a pleasure." He put the chair back next to the window and walked out the door.

"Goombuckle," I called after him. He stuck his head back into view. "How old are you?"

Goombuckle chuckled. "Older than you'll ever be, Chris."

I was surprised. He looked so young. Apparently gnomes lived for quite some time.

…

I awoke on the floor where I had decided to go back to sleep because my bed was wet. I had had no more dreams and felt a little better than I did when I had regained consciousness the first time. I could hear birds singing outside and the guys downstairs. I quickly got dressed in my almost-damp clothes and headed down stairs.

Michelle was lounging on a mattress they had found before I moved in and kept in the meeting room. David and Midas were kneeling at a low table and were playing a game with coins and dice. They seemed to be concentrating on it rather intensely. It moved quickly but I thought that it might have been because they had played it often. Michelle watched but didn't have much interest in the game.

Michelle was the first to notice me. She frowned and walked over to me. After the previous night's happenings I was a little wary of her as she got closer. She didn't notice and loosely grabbed a clump of my hair and looked at it.

"Look at this," she sighed, "all sticky and grimy. Ew! And you really stink too. Come on, we'll draw you a nice bath and try to clean you up a little." She placed a hand on my shoulder and turned me around.

Honestly, if there was one thing I didn't like, it was how everyone treated me. Most of the time they treated me like I was eight instead of the fourteen that I was. I realize that I might have looked a bit younger because of my height. I was only about as tall as Midas. But that didn't mean that they could treat me like I was some little kid they had to take care of.

The bath was nice though, I'll admit. While I was waiting for the water to warm up on the stove Michelle informed me that Goombuckle had told them that I had been the victim of a bad dream that had really shaken me up. I felt a little betrayed. It was my dream that I had told Goombuckle about my dream; I hadn't told everyone. If I had wanted everyone to know I would have told them myself. I didn't need them thinking of me as just a child who was afraid of dreams.

After a few minutes of silent brooding I let go of it for a while and turned my attention to another thing I had been thinking about.

"Do you know that Goombuckle is really old?" I asked

"Yeah, so?" Michelle shrugged as she tried to clean my hair.

"Do you know how old exactly?"

"I think he's in his two hundreds somewhere," she said nonchalantly.

I thought about that for a while.

"How long do gnomes live?"

Michelle paused in getting out a knot and thought. "I think about four hundred." I felt my jaw hang open. "You don't know much about other races, do you?"

"No," I admitted, still marveling at the number. "I've never really met many other races. All my life I've been around humans."

"I suppose that's somewhat normal around here. Most of the other races stay on the other side of the ocean where they can get a bit better treatment. I moved to this continent when I was a little younger than you. I remember Palané City. It was the opposite there: humans were vastly out numbered by the other races."

"I didn't know that you moved here from Palané."

"Yeah, I miss it sometimes. It was so beautiful there."

She was in deep thought for a while. I wondered what it must be like to truly have a home country you adore. Frankly, I didn't really care about Salidemthia. Sure I lived here, but it's not like I'd fight for it. What obligation did I have to it? Look at Jein. Half of it was dirty and it was forgotten by all but those who lived there. I smiled to myself as I thought that the day the people of Jein rose up for some cause would be the day that I would retire from thieving.

Michelle must have seen me smile and thought that I was imagining Palané because she said, "Don't worry, if I ever get the chance I'm going to take you to see Palané."

I was confused for a second but quickly realized where that had come from. "Thanks Michelle," I said even though I had no real desire to go to Palané.

Michelle left and I dried off. When she returned she had a set of clothes for me to wear. I thanked her for them and put them on. They were very big on me. I did the best I could and ended up with the bottoms of my pants cuffed to about an inch and a half thick. I tucked the shirt into the pants and put my belt on tight. Luckily there were no sleeves on the shirt to worry about.

We then spent a long time washing my clothes on an old washboard that someone had thrown out. We spoke a little and Michelle kept beating around the bush at something. Every once in a while she started to say something that I hoped would bring her news to life, but she would quickly fall silent again. At long last I slapped the shirt I was working on against the washboard and clapped my hands onto my lap.

"Michelle, what in the name of Vecna are you trying to say!" I yelled.

Midas and David strolled in at that moment.

"Is Michelle hiding something?" Midas asked mischievously as he opened the cupboard door. He kept his eyes on Michelle, seeming to try to pierce through her skin into her heart. With his hands he felt around the cupboard for something. As he was doing so he knocked over a glass and it rolled off the shelf. He seemed too absorbed in his search to notice it. David pounced forward and snatched the glass before it hit the floor.

"You little halfling! Watch what you're doing! If you can't reach the shelf without knocking things over, then ask someone else to!" David ranted.

Everyone now turned their head towards David. His face was red and he was breathing a little heavier. He looked directly at Michelle, who had never changed the emotionless mask she had donned. He then took a breath and smiled.

"Well, uh, sorry about that, Midas," he said quickly, "I suppose I've had a few things on my mind. I think I'll go for a walk to calm myself down." And without a chance for anyone to say anything he swiftly left. I caught him give one last, discreet look at Michelle.

It was overly apparent to me that David knew what Michelle was hiding. Yet, at the same time, I couldn't figure out why he would get so angry at Midas. It certainly was not the cup. It had to be that Midas had been trying to learn from Michelle what her secret was. But how did that have anything to do with David?

"Well, I suppose I should be going," commented Michelle abruptly. She stood up quickly and headed for the door. "I just remembered that my mom wants me home early. See ya. I think I heard it's going to rain. Don't get caught out there when it starts."

By this time she was heading through the front door. I looked over to Midas. He looked back. I figured he was onto the two as well. All we had to figure out was what was going on. I took my shirt off the washboard and hung it up with all my other clothes.

"Well, that was strange," I said.

"Yeah," Midas agreed, he seemed to be deep thought. "David must really like that glass."

I tripped at his statement. "What?"

"Didn't you notice? He sprang at that thing like his life was imbued on it."

I hesitated. Was Midas just acting dumb for fun? Or was he perhaps testing me to see if I had actually noticed the small details. Midas didn't look like he was actually stupid. He probably was just leading me on.

"Must be worth some value…" Midas drifted off as he examined the glass. He spun it slowly in his hand, and then looked through both ends. Finally he simply pocketed it and started walking. He reached the kitchen door and realized I was looking at him. "What?"

"May I have the glass back?" I sighed. He sure was doing an awfully good job.

"What glass?"

"The one in your pocket."

"Oh," he exclaimed putting his hand into his pocket, "you mean this one. Well, I was just going to borrow it, but if you want it back I'll just leave it here."

"Midas."

"Yes?"

"You're hopeless."

He turned and walked away. The glass was securely on the table and I walked over and picked it up. I liked these guys before, but now they were just getting weird. Midas was usually a little slicker than that and David had been on edge lately. Michelle was being a little odd and I was dying to find out why.

"Hey Midas," I called through the house.

"What?" was the answer I received.

"May I come with you on you're run today?" I headed towards the front door.

Midas didn't respond for a few seconds then said decisively, "No."

"But why not?"

"Because you're just more of a risk."

I stopped walking. I was now in the hall and was looking at Midas. He waited a moment to see how I would respond and left having seen. I stood dumbfounded for a few more seconds, and then kicked at a dust ball that was on the ground. I couldn't believe him! What nerve! He had seen what I could do. The stupid oaf!

Then an idea came to me. I'd do the same thing to him that I had done to David. He'd never know and tomorrow I'd tell him everything he had done. That would show him. He wouldn't be able to say that I couldn't be sneaky anymore. He'd have to let me come next time.

So I headed out the door and looked around. I walked through the walkway that was canopied by bushes. I came to the end of it, peeked my head out of the iron gate, and looked both ways. I saw Midas off a ways. I knew that out here, away from all the buildings, I would have the hardest time staying out of his sight. I proceeded cautiously and made sure to keep off the road. I was able to hide behind some bushes that grew here and there. I sprinted from one to another as Midas continued on. I knew that soon we would reach the city and I might have an easier time as long as Midas didn't try anything very risky on his run.

Suddenly he crouched over. He sprinted in his squat position over to behind a bush. I followed even more slowly. As I approached the spot that Midas had disappeared I saw a pair of figures standing on the side of the road. I was surprised to see that it was Michelle and David. They were talking and I thought that perhaps Midas was a lot more intricate than I gave him credit for.

I came up behind Midas as quietly as I possibly could. He was obviously trying to listen in to Michelle and David's conversation.

"Stop making so much noise," he whispered back to me.

I almost jumped. How could he have heard me? I had been as quiet as a cat. Yet he claimed that I was being noisy.

"I guess it doesn't matter if I warn you against something, does it?" He continued. I was taken aback. He was being far more serious than I had ever seen him before.

I didn't answer the question. "Can you actually hear them?"

"When you're not talking."

"What are they-?"

Midas shushed me. There was something odd about him. He had been so friendly and oblivious before. Now he was serious and obviously cared about what Michelle and David were talking about. I obliged him by keeping quiet. I even tried to breathe a little quieter.

They talked for a long time and finally started walking on again. I could see that they were both a bit afraid of something. It had to be something big. Why else would they not us. I couldn't understand it. I was barely able to wait for Michelle and David to get out of sight to ask Midas. They walked slowly and my whole body started to get jittery. Then, right before they passed out of sight, I saw David wrap an arm around Michelle. He pulled her close as they walked and kissed her. She turned her head and smiled at him then rested her head on his shoulder and wrapped her hand around his waist.

I felt something growing in me but couldn't put my finger on what exactly it was. I would find out later what it was. But for the time I ignored its growth.

When they were finally out of view I finally exploded, "What were they saying?"

Midas looked at me and shrugged. "Don't remember."

"What!"

"Should have been listening yourself," he suggested and turned to walk away.

"Midas! This isn't funny! I want to know what they were talking about!"

"I told ya already! I don't remember!" He yelled back to me but didn't look back.

I felt that he was telling the truth but didn't want to accept it. "Where are you going?"

"I need some more money."

I stomped in anger and turned to head back to the house. "You're horrible Midas!"

"What? Because I can't remember what they said?"

I broke into a sprint. It relieved my stress a little. I thought about how horrible my day had gone so far. I couldn't help but feel that everyone was trying to make me miserable. Sure, Michelle had helped me with my clothes, but she was holding things from me. The other two were doing the same thing. And I still hadn't shaken that dream off completely.

I got to the place I was calling home currently and finished hanging my clothes up in the kitchen. I flopped down on the mattress in the meeting room and lay there for a while. I contemplated the option of leaving and how much these people really meant to me. Midas was a jerk. David was rich. Michelle was hiding something. The only person I had nothing against was Goombuckle.

I thought that over some more and found he was the only thing actually keeping me here. He was comforting and open so I knew he wasn't hiding anything. He was one of my few, true friends if not my only one. The only other person that I had liked was Philippe. I had led Philippe to a bitter end. He was betrayed by someone he had once considered a friend. Would that happen to Goombuckle too? Would I somehow betray him and have his life forfeited.

This put me into an even worse mood. I turned over and buried my face in my arms. I hated David and Michelle and Midas, all of them, for making me think of Philippe. I may have led him there, but I had not committed the deed. I decided that would be the compromise I would make. I'd take part of the blame by accepting that I had lied to him and led him to the alley, but I didn't kill him. That was the worst part, the unforgivable part. I would allow the others to be responsible for that. I washed my hands of killing Philippe.

Yet that didn't satisfy my conscience. I did my best to ignore it but it continued to take shots at me. I was getting more and more irate and it simply wouldn't go away. I ended up on my feet pacing the room because of it.

Then Goombuckle rushed in. I was annoyed at the loudness with which he entered the house and sent him an angry glance to show. I then quickly put my face down in the mattress again, some where deep inside hoping that he hadn't seen my reaction to him.

"Chris! Clean everything up!" he ordered. I suddenly felt a renewed dose of anger. Who was he to demand something of me today? I had had a miserable day so far and didn't feel like letting anyone tell me what to do.

Had it been anyone else but Goombuckle I would have given them a piece of my mind, but for my good friend I did my best to take a hold of my anger. "Calm down Goombuckle. It's not messy," I grumbled through the mattress.

"Chris! I'm not-"

"Goombuckle!" I cut him off in an aggravated voice. I had tried to control myself, but he just wouldn't let it go. "I'm not really in the mod right now to do work. Can't you just leave me alone for once?"

I looked up and saw Goombuckle stop what he was doing. He looked at me and I held his gaze with my frustration-filled one. I could see he was surprised to hear me say that. Now that I was actually looking at him I realized that Goombuckle was looking incredibly scared. But I didn't think it was me he was afraid of.

He tightened his lips and straightened his back. "Chris," he began. His tone carried a sternness I had never heard from his lips. "I care for you like the daughter I never had. I'd love to be of some comfort to you right now but we don't have the time for it."

I was shocked. His daughter? He thought of me as his daughter? But how much of that did he mean? Maybe he was just being nice. Maybe it was just some ploy to get me to move. Everyone around here was two faced and sneaky. How could I trust him?

_Could I be_, I thought, _part of a family?_

"Please Chris, they're coming soon and we have to make it look like we don't live here."

"Who's coming," I whispered without thinking. My mind was too busy being overwhelmed to think.

_What would that really mean, to be part of a family?_

"Exorcist, Chris. If they catch us here they'll take us and have us hanged."

"But why would exorcists want to come here?" My voice dragged on without my minds consent.

_Goombuckle was very nice. And he cared for me. I could…_

"Because people have been complaining about ghosts being around town. They finally got enough money together to hire the exorcists. Together we're no match for even one of them. We have to run and hide before they get here!"

"But why would they think there are ghosts here?"

_Sure, it might be kind of weird. Not only is he a gnome and I a human but I'd die before he would._

"It's because we, well, no, I made them believe that by using my magic when kids snuck around. It's my fault, I'm sorry. But we have to get out of here quick. They just arrived at town when I left. They're probably on their way here as we speak. Please help me Chris."

"Yes, I'll help you."

_How would that make him feel, to bury his own daughter? I don't think I could do that._

My body moved without a mind and as some undead creature went slowly about its work. While I took my time Goombuckle rushed around. By the time he was done gathering up all the food, eating utensils, and extra blankets I had taken down my clothes from the line. He then asked me to walk out the back door and make my way into town without using the main road or letting anyone see me. I obeyed and by the time I was out the back door I had regained most of my consciousness.

A part of my mind continued to weigh the odds but what remained was fully focused on not getting caught. Out on the planes it was hard to move without being seen so after about ten minutes travel I was only about a quarter of the way to town. I was wondering if Goombuckle had made it out in time when I heard someone say my name and touch my shoulder. Surprised, I leapt away, got low to the ground and started to draw my dagger. My eyes scanned all around but didn't see anything. I thought about the voice and thought it sounded familiar.

"Chris, it's me, don't be afraid," the disembodied voice spoke yet again.

I thought for a moment and recognized the voice as Goombuckle's.

"Oh, thank," I paused for a second to try to think of the name of some great god, yet one did not come to mind. Slightly embarrassed I continued, "Well, thank whatever god you prefer that you weren't caught. Where are you?" I looked all around me.

"I cast an invisibility spell on myself. I'm going to do the same for you, stand still."

I saw a glowing in the air and there was a flash. I looked around, there didn't appear to be anything different.

"Don't worry," Goombuckle assured me, "you may not be able to tell, but you're invisible too. Now let's get to town before the spell wears off. We won't need to worry about being sneaky now."

"Alright," I agreed. Then a new thought came to me. "What if I lose you on the way?"

"Don't worry, I'll find you if we get lost. Just make sure that no one sees you become visible. Wait in the grove outside the town until the spell wears off. Now let's go."

I must have lost Goombuckle at the very beginning because I made sure to run as fast as I could before the spell ran out. I made it to the grove about a half hour later. I hoped that it hadn't worn out while I was running, so I checked it quickly checked it at the gate. The two guards were reclining against the wall.

"Hello?" I whispered in the one's ear.

The man jumped up and stared around bewildered.

"Did ya 'ear dat Lloyd?"

"What are you bumbling about, Frank?"

"I coudda sworn I heard a voice!"

"Relax Frank, I didn't hear anything and don't see anything. You must just be jumpy because of them Exorcists from earlier. Talkin' all about them ghosts and what not. You gotta be like me, Frank. I don't believe in none of that junk and I get along just fine."

"What about demons from the abyss?"

"You've been talkin' to one to many bards, Frank. Have you ever seen a demon?"

"No."

"Neither have I. So as far as I'm concerned, them demons don't exist. They're jist some scary story that bards make up for money."

Satisfied, I left them to contemplate the mysteries of the universe. I returned to the grove and sat down on a log. Before long I heard the noise of some heavy breathing and heavy footsteps.

"Goombuckle," I whispered, "is that you?"

"Chris!" he gasped. "You nearly killed me! I think I'm getting too old for this kind of stuff." I heard his breaths slow and get quieter. "Now, where are you?"

"I'm sitting on the log."

"Alright," He walked over and started to sit down.

"No, no! I'm right there!"

"Oh, sorry about that."

"Um, Goombuckle?"

"Yes?"

"Did you… I mean… When you…"

"Chris, yes. I meant what I said earlier about you. I haven't had no family since I was a sprite, just like you. I know how hard it is to be alone. That's why I joined with the others. We're our own little family. Sure, we're the only ones without a real family. Heck, I haven't even seen any of my own race in the eighty three years I've been here."

"Wait," I interrupted, "this is the eighty third year of the Salidemthia Calendar. If you came here eighty three years ago, that means…"

"Yep, I was one of the first people to stand on these shores. I was one of the pioneers of this land," pride had grown quickly in his voice. He seemed so happy to talk about those days. "I helped build Baizine and was there for its naming." He muttered something in a language I could assume was gnomish. "Dear gods, I'm getting old."

At that moment he reappeared and I saw him leaning on his knees, thinking about the "old days". I didn't mention it, nor did I say anything to him for a while. I let him daydream about those exciting things.

At length I finally asked a question. "Goombuckle?"

"Yep?"

"What was it like to go on adventures in a new world? In a place never before seen by the people of the Palané Republic?"

Goombuckle sighed and repositioned himself so that he could lean against a tree. A large, yet a bit sorrowful, smile occupied his mouth. "Well… it's almost impossible to explain. In all my years I have never experienced a feeling that even came close to the complexity and power as that one had. It is probably better to say that it was not just one feeling, but an amount of feelings that could out weigh a dragon's horde. Primarily it was prideful; knowing that you are doing something that hadn't been done since your noble grandfather had been part of the team that discovered the beautiful land of Quetelemont. But that wasn't easily the most prominent. There was giddiness; the knowledge that you are walking blindly into a world that could be ruled by giants and wraiths and horrible things like that. And obviously giddiness boiled straight down to fear of those things. There was also the happiness that came from being with your fellow adventurers. Feeling as close to a family with them as you and I feel now. Knowing that if one of us were to fall the others would snatch him up in an instant. Thinking about it now, all emotions come from knowledge. The good ones come from having it and bad ones come from not having it. Funny how mortals function, isn't it?"

I let that monologue play over and over in my head as Goombuckle relaxed his eyes. It sounded so fulfilling, so completely wonderful. It made me feel so much better after the rough day I had lived through. I smiled as Goombuckle's statement about knowledge was taking meaning in my life. I felt a small faction of my soul condemn my happiness. Not because it wanted to feel bad. But simply because it felt that I was being too fickle. I took that piece and shoved it as far away from me as I could. I then promised myself I would have an adventure like Goombuckle one day. I would experience things no one else had experienced. Then I would return and spend a full year telling my encounters to Goombuckle. It sounded like an excellent plan.

Meanwhile, Goombuckle had started humming an exotic tune I had yet to hear from him. I listened to it a while and felt my heart beat to it. It was when this was happening that I realized that he didn't have his drum.

"Goombuckle!"

"What? What happened?" he yelped as if coming out of a dream.

"You don't have your drum!"

"Oh, is that all," he chuckled and leaned backwards again. "Some day you will learn what I have. Things we have here don't matter. We can always create a duplicate. Except for gifts, that's why I took these." He held out the presents I had given to him.

I was choked with emotion. I felt like crying but couldn't see why I would. This was not bad. It was an honor. There was nothing to cry about.

"Goombuckle…" I croaked.

"Shh. We can talk later. Let's try to get a little rest now."

And so he closed his eyes and started humming again. I moved to the ground and layed down. I went to sleep thinking of how he had kept the things I had given him, yet had left behind his eternal companion.


	6. Chapter Six

Zera- um, I'm sorry but I'm not completely sure on what you mean. When I first read it I thought that you meant "how did Amelia come to this conclusion in life", in which case I would tell you that that is the reason for continuing to write this; that this story is about how she got to that point. But then I read it over again and it almost seems like your asking me, directly, how I came to this decision. In that case, I have not actually come to this viewpoint of life. I don't know about you or anyone else, but the reason I write is to explore ideas and come to a decision myself. I create my characters to have their own views on the subject and then they reason it out by talking to each other and by facing different experiences. Just because my main character, or any other character of mine for that matter, has an opinion, it does not mean that I share it. By creating those who are against my beliefs, I am forcing myself to defend my reasoning. Sometimes my characters even change my mind about things. So, if that answers any questions at all, or if it raises any new ones, just give me a holler. Oh yeah, and I'm really sorry that I didn't remember to get back to you on that when I first posted this chapter.

**Chapter Six**

I awoke to find once again that Goombuckle had left me. I panicked at first, then saw that he had left his trinkets on the log. I picked them up and looked them over. They were his promise to return to me. I figured that he must have gone into town to find out what had happened.

I sat on the log and looked up into the branches of the trees. They were growing dimmer as the sun, which I did not see, lowered itself across the never ending frontier. The ambiance brought back into my mind the goal I had created for myself. I thought about it slowly at first, and then it began to expand. If I were so witty I suppose that I would compare it to a young country's expansion. Always growing with each new idea, its ranks full of those who longed for an innovative adventure or invention. In its rush, it over takes everything else.

Where would I go? What event could possibly compare with the wonders of finding a new continent? Would I need to discover a new continent? Or could I match his with several exploits? I didn't want to cross the ocean, one of the more prominent reasons that I would never go with Michelle to Palané.

Secretly, I considered myself a coward for that. I didn't let on to anyone the truth, but I hated any water that was more than waste deep. I didn't trust it. You never should trust elements like water. The ones that move on their own and you couldn't do much to stop them. It took the control over myself out of my hands and I didn't like that. Fire, that was alright. You could dowse fire or simply take away the fodder. But water, what could you do to stop that? If a flood suddenly swept up, how would you counter it? It was impossible.

So, that was why I hated water. And that's why I hated myself for doubting I could ever discover a new continent. In order to discover one, you needed to cross the large waves that broke the horizon. You had to relinquish to the mighty sea the control of your life in order to find one. And that's something I simply couldn't do.

A yell snapped me out of my day dreams. It was darker than when I had last taken heed to the world around me. I listened again, hoping it was Goombuckle's voice. It sung out again and to my dismay it was not Goombuckle's but one of the guards.

I edged my way to the edge of the dark grove to get a better idea of what was going on. As I neared the edge and looked out, I saw that a third guard had joined the other two and was talking rapidly to them. A wind was kicking up and I couldn't make out the conversation.

I took a breath and tested my luck. I got low to the ground and quickly moved towards the wall while being as quiet as I could. The original two guards were looking towards their new companion who stood within the entrance to town. It wasn't terribly difficult to get close because the two had their backs towards me and the third guy was inside the still open gate. I was within ten feet of them when I decided not to push it any more.

"I'm telling you, they're getting ready to hang him right now. Why would I lie about this?"  
"Come on! Like they'd hang dat old guy. He's been around here jist about for ten years."

"They think he's been the one causing all the ghost trouble. He won't tell them where he lives, he won't tell them his job, nothing! He just keeps quiet as those exorcist guys question him."

"So they're just going to hang him?"

"Yep."

"Isn't anyone going to stop them?"

"No, the exorcist guys have just about everyone sold on it. The way they put it, even if this guys not the guy who was pulling the pranks, at least they can send a message with him."

My heart had been sinking lower and lower by the moment. It had slid past the bottom of my lungs, then it hit the top of my stomach, and kept going till it hit the bottom of it. Even there it didn't feel like it had reached where it wanted to go. It had taken the blood in my face with it and I felt its new position weighing down my knees. I braced myself against the wall that was equally as cold as I felt.

It couldn't be. They couldn't just kill Goombuckle. I wouldn't let them, would I. But what could I do? And where were the others?

They must be making a plan to save him, I reassured myself. They wouldn't let him just hang. So I'll go now and help them how I could when they did it.

I dashed past and around the guards who looked up startled. I didn't hear them yell or anything, so I guess they just thought I was trying to get home. I kept running, not knowing specifically where I was going. But eventually I wound up in the right place. I was on the main street and saw the torches that had been set up around a makeshift gallows. There was already a large crowd surrounding the execution stage, all of them seemed a bit too excited for my comfort.

I then felt my body go limp as I saw Goombuckle up on the platform. He was beat and bloody. The noose was already starting to grip his throat because they had not had enough rope to fully lower it to his height. There were two men, dressed in a white that seemed to be stained red from the light cast upon them, flanking Goombuckle. I assumed that they were either the exorcists or their assistances.

I began searching the crowd for my friends. First I looked towards the house I knew David lived in. All the lights were out in it and I guessed that meant his family had come out to witness the event. I didn't try to find Midas because he would be shorter than everyone else. Most likely he was in the front row, awaiting the signal to save Goombuckle. He could use his height as an excuse to be up there. I didn't see Michelle anywhere but took comfort in knowing that she was probably out there somewhere.

A tall, slender man wearing a garb similar to the other two that were up there. The difference came, however, in that he had many gold chains and necklaces adorning his attire. He cleared his throat and the crowd that had been at a constant buzz was silenced.

"My good city folk," he began in a surprisingly expansive voice, "today we hang a gnome who has been charged with the crime of practicing dark arts and with causing a good measure of unrest in the surrounding areas." The man turned sideways to Goombuckle and held out a threatening hand. He was yelling with great conviction and, had I not known that Goombuckle was innocent, I would have believed the man. "He has yet to deny any of the accusations made against him, therefore accepting all punishments that should be bestowed upon him as well as the guilt of being the source of what evil has invaded your good city. Unless he should repent now for his iniquities, he shall be hanged in retribution for them. Out of goodness I will give you one last chance to reconcile your transgressions and gain atonement. What says you?"

Goombuckle said nothing and I know that he would have turned his face towards the ground and away from the strict, "pious" face that stood mere centimeters from his, had the noose not been so tight.

After a moment the priest rose back up to his full height and declared to the crowd, "He has refused the kindness that has been given to him and is so sentenced to death by hanging."

There was a giddy roar from the crowd. Content with himself the exorcist nodded to one of his cohorts. The man moved slowly over to a lever.

I knew what would happen if he pulled it. I was no longer waiting for the others to act.

I screamed at the top of my lungs and somehow was heard over the commotion of the onlookers. I was running even as I yelled and the people in the back row turned to look curiously at me. I pulled out my knife and held it above my head. I don't know why, but I started to yell a bunch of gibberish.

As it worked out, one of the men in the back row was very superstitious and had a good imagination.

"Look out! She must be in cahoots with the gnome! I think she's casting some sort of evil spell!"

Everyone started screaming and the crowd split as I ran towards it. I kept my eyes on a startled Goombuckle as I ran for him. The man with the lever had stopped where he was and the leader was standing in shock.

Through my blind furry and overwhelming fear I heard my name called. I looked over and saw David running for me. He had his arms out in preparation to grab me. I didn't understand why he was trying to stop me. Suddenly, he stumbled and fell.

I resumed my concentration on what lay ahead of me. I couldn't hear anything any more but my raging heart and screaming voice. I leapt and rolled onto the platform. There appeared one of the men wielding a longsword in front of me. He swung and to my utter amazement did no more damage than ripping my cloak.

I quickly ripped my knife across his exposed wrist. His sword clattered to the ground and he howled in pain. The other one left the lever and stalked towards me. I wrapped my hands around the longsword and hefted it with both hands. The man smirked at my feeble effort and I did my best to wield it. Even if I left the sword on the ground I wouldn't have been able to avoid any attacks from him. So, I took the one, crazy chance I had thought up while I panicked.

I spun and let go of the sword. The man jumped out of the way as the sword sailed through the air. It is nearly impossible that it actually happened, but the sword some how did what I wanted it to. Its well sharpened blade sliced right through the rope and the noose fell limp. I took this moment to slip past the amazed man and ran towards Goombuckle.

I put a hand around his wrist and pulled him. He didn't take any time to react and was running with me through the splitting crowd. I could hear the man screaming and yelling behind us.

We ducked into an alley and I quickly cut the ropes from Goombuckle's wrists. He pulled the noose from his neck and started casting a spell. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but what I got was odd. A rectangle panel opened came into being in front of us. Through it I saw a open field that looked familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it.

Before I knew it Goombuckle grabbed my hand and pulled me into it. I briefly felt a feeling like I was being hurled through the air. When it was done I was standing outside of the city walls with Goombuckle. I spun around and saw nothing but the blank wall. There was nobody around and I could only barely make out the sound of the people we had left behind.

I jumped at Goombuckle and wrapped my arms around him.

"It's alright, Chris. We're going to be alright. Just give me a moment to fix myself up and we'll be on our way."

He cast another spell and all the wounds that he incurred were gone. I marveled at this and smiled.

"A little trick I picked up. Now come on, let's go before they find us."

We ran as fast as our legs could carry us. We ran all through the night and finally stopped right before daybreak in a bush covered gully on the side of the main road. The second my head was on the ground I was asleep.

I didn't sleep long however. Goombuckle woke me up midday and hurried me along. I dragged my feet for the first few minutes but soon we were underway. I looked up at the bright sun and thought about what it was like in Estella. There it did not seem to be as dark all the time as Jein had. I figured I would try to persuade Goombuckle to go there. It was out of the way and a very small town. We would probably not run into anybody that would know us.

"Hey Goombuckle."

"Yes, Chris?"

"Where are we going?"

"I'm not exactly sure. I'd like to go back to Baizine; I know some people there who would take us in. But the quicker way would be to turn around and pass by Jein, but I'm sure we don't want to do that."

"No," I agreed quickly.

"We could cut the angle and head cross-country but I don't have a map or any other way of finding our way there. I suppose I could use some of my magic to help get us there, but after thinking about it, I've always wanted to go back to Nomen. It's a nice little town but there's always lots of adventure."

Since the day he told me that he had been among the first to land on Salidemthían soil, he had had a strange aura about him. It didn't seem magical to me, though I don't suppose that I would have been able to tell. It seemed to me that it came fully from the strength of his spirit. Apparently that conversation had awaken a hope for more adventure in him. He had even shown it, though I may not have noticed it at the time, while up on the gallows. He seemed like he was younger now and more energetic. He walked briskly and uprightly now more than ever.

"A little adventure will be good for you. You'll love it. We may not have a home, but when you're out there for a purpose, you don't really think about it. You have your tent and your companions. That right there feels like a real home and a real family. I'm telling you, it will be great."

He then stopped talking for a while. He looked at me a couple times and seemed to be thinking deeply about something. He had started looking old again, a little more decrepit even. I wished that he'd start talking again but I didn't want to break the silence. He seemed so intent on figuring something out that I was afraid any interference from me would prove deadly to the subject that he was examining. At long last he sighed and locked his gaze on mine.

"You know what? Maybe we should just get rid of the idea now," he sighed.

"What?" I demanded.

"I'm only thinking of you Chris. The way it seems to me, you've been wandering around for most of your life. You deserve a settled life. Even back there, with the others, that wasn't a real home."

"But Goombuckle! You love adventuring! I've seen the way you've been since you started thinking about your first experiences here. You loved them! I can tell you want to relive those ones again! Even though you're a gnome, you'll probably not be this young for much longer!"

"Chris! I've already gone adventuring. I don't need to do it again. I may just end up being younger longer than you will. And," he blinked and sniffed a little, "the truth is that you humans don't… you don't last very long. You're lives are so short in comparison with the lives of most the other races. You don't have much time to experience everything. We can adventure later on in your life, maybe. But you deserve to experience a home of some kind. If you don't experience a real childhood, now while you still can, you'll grow old and hard. I'd never forgive myself if that happens. I remember my childhood, Chris. It was the best time of my life. I can't let you miss that. It's something you'll need when you're older." A smile touched his lips. "Trust me, I know."

I sighed with submission. I would have argued with him further but I felt that I already owed him more than I had given. In truth, I don't think I would have ever trusted the others had he not been so nice to me at the beginning. I may have even starved myself to death. It seems rather stupid to me now, but it made sense at the time. It's odd what despair can do to someone.

We walked on another dozen feat and I watched the sky, a hobby I had yet to indulge. They were somewhat appeasing to my soul. They seemed to have a dimension to them that nothing else on the ground had. I looked at them all and followed them to the far horizon before us.

Goombuckle stopped abruptly. I stopped and peered at him to see what was the matter. He seemed to be listening to something far off. He turned and looked down the path behind us and I followed his lead. As I looked across the plains I saw a figure riding a horse and immediately reached for my dagger. It looked like one of the Sacred Exorcists from that distance and I looked around to see if there was something I could use to better our odds. But Goombuckle made no movement and watched as the human approached. As he got closer I saw that I had been mistaken and that it was a young traveler.

He slowed his horse and came to a stop in front of us. I kept my dagger clenched in my hand beneath my cloak in case he was trouble. I didn't want anymore surprises and made sure to look hard at him to see if I could spot any warning signs. To my surprise he nimbly dismounted from his horse and stood before us, staring at first from Goombuckle to myself but then only at Goombuckle. I tightened my grip and shifted my weight very slowly, as to not draw attention to the movement, to my right foot. I didn't trust the young man who stood giddily as he examined Goombuckle with his eyes. People don't act excited to see people they don't recognize. He somehow knew, or thought he knew, who Goombuckle was and the first thing that came to mind was that a warrant had been put up for our arrest.

"You!" the young man burst out. It took my total amount of control to keep from panicking and stabbing him in the chest right then. "Are you Goombuckle Rubynose!"

_Rubynose?_ I thought skeptically, What an odd last name. _That can't possibly be Goombuckle's last name. That would just be silly. Who would have a last name like that?_

"Young man," Goombuckle responded slowly, once again seeming old, "normally I would not answer a question asked in that way. However, you look familiar, though I don't know where I may have seen you, so I will deign to you an answer. Yes, my name is Goombuckle Rubynose."

I scrunched my eyebrows and sent a glance at Goombuckle, _Apparently Goombuckle has a last name like that_, I answered my earlier question. _Or perhaps he's just playing along. Yeah, that sounds like a better answer_.

Suddenly the young man flopped down to one knee. I felt my body shake as I kept it from reacting in alarm. I saw him grimace a little as he bowed his head. He had been a little too over zealous in his act of obeisance and I knew he was now feeling it in his leg.

"Sir, it is appropriate that you may recognize me. I am the son of you good friend Calver. My name is Cantrol. It is an honor to finally meet you."

Goombuckle's eyes opened wider than I had ever seen them. He didn't say anything for a moment. When he finally spoke, his voice was at a slightly higher pitch. "I am honored by the meeting as well, though I would suggest that you not make anymore sudden motions. Chris is holding her dagger and I believe she is reaching the ends of her nerves. You should consider yourself lucky that she hasn't lost herself in surprise yet."

Cantrol's face went pale for a moment and slowly put his hands up in the air. He then, very slowly, rose off of the ground and took a step back. I was a bit angered at his mistrust of me and pulled my cloak away from my dagger. His mouth slowly opened as he looked at it. I then trusted it into my sheath and he relaxed, though he did it slowly.

"And… um… of what relation is this fine young lady to you?" he asked hesitantly. "Your daughter perhaps?"

Goombuckle smiled. "Yes, my daughter. Don't be fooled by her size though, she is not a gnome, just a young human." Cantrol blinked twice and started stuttering, trying to find the right words. Perceiving what Cantrol was thinking, Goombuckle quickly clarified, "My adopted daughter."

"Oh," Cantrol exhaled in relief, "I see. Well, it is nice to make your acquaintance, Chris."

I took the hand he held out to me and held it firmly. "Likewise."

I didn't notice at first because I was testing his hand strength, but I suddenly realized that he was not looking at my face, but at my sheath. I gave an exasperated sniff and sharply broke with him.

"You shouldn't insult her by not trusting her. She won't bring any harm to you. We've been through a lot in the past couple of days and I'm afraid her patience has almost run out; we haven't had a full night's sleep in the past two days and it's taken it's toll on us. She's normally much nicer," Goombuckle ensured him. Once again, I was angered for being told how I felt, but it was Goombuckle and I let it go.

"I apologize, miss," he said with a wide-sweeping bow. "I did not mean to insult your integrity."

I mumbled a response that didn't seem to please Goombuckle too much, so I told him that no real harm had been done.

"So, how does your father fare?" Goombuckle continued.

"Once again, I apologize. But the reason that I have come looking for you is because you are needed urgently. I really have wasted too much time in finding you so we must be going. I will explain things on the way. I'm sorry that I am rushing such a man of high honor, like yourself, in this way but we really must be off."

"Do not worry, I am not of so high repute," Goombuckle said humbly. "If it is so urgent then we must make haste."

I didn't mention it, but it bothered me how they were now talking. They spoke so regally it made me feel out of place.

A carriage and two armed horsemen came into view down the road.

"Those are my guards," Cantrol explained. "Those are not their normal steeds. Those are horse bred for running and not battle, so that we may get to our destination sooner. I was expecting to bring a guard with us, just in case, but since you have a companion I will ask him to travel in the carriage with the other one."

"No, that's alright, I'm sure Chris is tired and needs rest, don't you Chris?"

"But Goombuckle, I want-" I started to object.

"Shh… It's alright, I promise I'll wait for you if I can. And if I can't, I'll make sure that they send you after me. Right now you need to regain your strength. I'm going to cast a spell on you that will help you sleep better, alright?"

I started to object again, but Goombuckle started singing and I quieted down. He cast the spell and I was out in an instant.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

"I'm sorry Chris…" I far off voice wept.

I opened my eyes hesitantly, "Goombuckle?"

I was lying on a mattress in an old, worn room. There was a blanket pulled over me and a soft down pillow under my head. The window across from me was open to the warm summer air. I could smell some kind of soup near by. The pillow had a familiar smell, the smell of dozens of different people.

I sat up in bed and looked sleepily around. I couldn't remember how I had got there and looked around the room trying to figure it out. I figured that I was in an inn somewhere; not that did me much good. I stepped out of bed and over to the window. I didn't recognize the town out side.

Then it hit me. I remembered everything that had happened in the past couple of days and I knew why I wasn't back at the old farm. But that didn't change the fact that I didn't know where I was. As I was going through my stuff to make sure it was all present and accounted for I heard the door open.

I turned and yelped in surprise which caused the intruder to do so as well. To my… less than pleasant surprise it was Cantrol. His hand was on his spear and his eyes were wide. My hand was on my knife and I looked at him through slits. After a moment of staring at each other we relaxed and I walked over to the bowl of soup that was sitting on a table in the corner.

"Hey! That's mine!" Cantrol yelped as I picked the bowl up and raised it to my mouth.

"Why'd you leave it in my room then?" I asked, a bit annoyed.

"Your room? Who do you think paid for this room?"

"Let me guess, you did? With some of the money your father gave you?" Maybe I was a bit harsh, but even after that nap I was a bit aggravated by him. My stomach was also empty, which added to the problem.

Cantrol gawked for a moment then raised himself up to his full, still adolescent, height. "I'll have you know that my father does not give me any money! I have worked hard for all the money I have!"

I looked him over again. He was wearing a chain shirt that was shiny and his spear was definitely painstakingly wrought. His belt was custom made with an odd depiction of a crescent moon made of what I guessed was silver. His boots were sturdy and appeared capable of holding up well if he were to actually use them.

I shook my head in disbelief and let out a breath of air. "Sure, I'm sure you have." I put the bowl on the table and walked towards him.

"Really! I'm telling you I paid for all this with my own money!"

"Right," I nodded to myself as I walked by him, "with your money that your father gave you."

"You little obnoxious girl! My father never gave me any money!"

I stopped in the doorway. "What?"

"My father never gave me any money!"

"No! The first part you idiot!"

He realized that I had taken offense to it and decided to use it to his advantage. "I said, 'You little… obnoxious… girl…," he sneered.

With some effort I restrained myself. I kept my eyes glued on his in a competition of will. He, unfortunately, did not understand what was going on and was soon looking over at his soup bowl and later out the window. It made my blood boil that he would be so… so… disrespectful.

"I suppose that it's better to be a little obnoxious girl than a stuck up, spoil child," I spat.

That brought his attention back to the matter at hand. His eyes flared with anger. "At least I'm not thick-headed!"

"At least I'm not a liar!"  
"At least I don't look like a bum!"

I was about to defend vagabonds but there was a loud thud on the floor in the doorway. We both looked over and saw a monster of a man standing there. He was bigger than the doorway and had a low-hung forehead. His clothing was all fur and he had a very large scar down his chest. He didn't look angry or intelligent.

"You quite," he demanded in a monotone voice.

Cantrol and I nodded and he walked back down the hall.

"See what you did!" Cantrol whispered.

"What I did! You were the one-" I began to retort.

Cantrol shushed me and put his finger on his lip. I was a bit more annoyed because he was being louder with his shushing than I had been talking. But I did not want to become re-acquainted with the big guy so I shut my jaw tight and left the room.

On my way out I heard Cantrol's bowl jingle and soon Cantrol was walking with me. I walked out the door on the first floor and into the streets. Cantrol was just now finishing his bowl and put it away in a bag he must have taken out of the room.

"Where's Goombuckle?"

Cantrol threw up his hands. "See, you're a trouble maker. After finishing my breakfast I was feeling fine and happy. Heck, I was going to try to start over with you again. You know, get off with a clean slate. But no, you just have to cause some kind of problems."

I stopped and turned to him. "Cantrol, where is Goombuckle?" I asked again though I had already guessed at the answer.

Cantrol sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "He left us here."

I suppressed the panic that had been bubbling up inside of me since I had heard the voice. I took a deep breath and continued on. "Why did he leave us?"

"He decided that it would be too dangerous for us." Cantrol kicked at the ground. "I wish he would have let me come along. I'm tired of all this boring stuff."

I looked dejectedly at the dirt. "He said that he'd come back to us, right?"

"He really didn't say much. It's really dangerous where he's going."

My heart was picking up pace now. I felt my throat tighten up and my breath quicken a bit in response. "Where'd he go?"

"I'm not entirely sure and I don't think I'd like to tell you," I didn't see him do it, but I knew that he was smirking at the fact that he knew something I didn't.

I didn't care about his taunts, I cared that he wasn't telling me. But I couldn't even dwell on that. My mind was darting to and fro too quickly. I was unable to focus on anything. At length I heard Cantrol again.

"Hey, are you okay?" His voice was not the snobbish tone I had first been introduced to. It was concerned and a bit scared.

I didn't answer him. I couldn't. I wasn't thinking. I wasn't sure if I was walking anymore or if I was even in the streets. I saw nothing. My mind was rending itself.

_How could he leave me? He said that he'd… He said I was…_

"Hey, maybe you should sit down."

_He's left me… He's gone forever… He was like everyone else…_

"Whoa, whoa! Watch yourself!" The far off voice called. I felt a warm arm loop beneath my two and around my back.

_Who was that? Was that Goombuckle? Did he come back?_

There was a buzzing in my head. A swirl of voices and cries. Then I felt something in my hand. I felt it and realized that it was two things. Two different things. One rough and pointed. The other smooth and curved. A picture came into my head. Along with it was an idea. No, not an idea. A concept really. A concept I had enjoyed only once since I was ten.

"Goombuckle?"

…  
It seems that the majority of time that I fall asleep I awake in a new place. This time was no exception. I came out of the darkness into a white room with white bed sheets and a white pillow. The pillow held the smell of wild flowers.

I panicked and sat right up in bed; again, a tendency I was prone to do. I was wearing a long, white nightgown. I pressed down with my right hand to get out of bed and winced. I lifted it up and looked at it. There were small cuts in it.

I heard a door open and a voice cry out.

"Oh, thank Larethian! You're up!"  
I turned and saw Cantrol standing in the doorway with a middle-aged man that did not appear to be human. Cantrol rushed over to my bed and pushed me back down.

"Hey!"

"Shh! Mr. Lotusiat told me that I should make sure you rest. You scared spirit out of me back there. Sheesh, Goombuckle would have my head if you died," his voice carried a disdainful tone.

He pulled the blankets up to my chin and shoved them beneath my shoulders. I tried to get up again and tried to argue but he kept shushing me and held me down. Finally the man came over and laid a hand on Cantrol's shoulder. Cantrol and I stopped and looked at him.

"Quite now. The more you wrestle with her, the worse she may get. Calm down a bit. It's going to be fine. Let her sit up if she wants to." Cantrol took a step back. "I know you mean well but you don't really know how to help. You may go sit outside for a while. I'll be right out after I talk with her for a moment. Go on."

Cantrol slowly turned and walked out the door. The man turned back to me and smiled softly. He sat down in a chair next to the bed and put his hand on my forehead.

"You seem to be coming along pretty well. Quite a nasty spell you fought off. You've got quite the resilience," he said as he turned my head this way and that and opened my mouth, then shut it and pulled my eye lids up and peered deeply into my eyes.

"I was under a spell?" I yelped in fear.

"No, no. Not a magical spell like you are thinking. I simply meant that you were sick. But now you seem just about well. A little more sleep and you'll be good as new."

"Thank you," I said, not knowing why.

"You don't need to thank me. Goombuckle was a good friend of mine. He is a good man."

"Do you know where he is?" I asked quickly.

The man smiled at me sadly. "He is… on a long, dangerous journey. I can only hope that he will return unscathed." He paused. "I probably shouldn't have told you that. As I understand it you two were very close."

"He's not coming back?" I felt water spring up in my eyes.

"Now, now, I didn't say that. He is strong, he'll probably make it back alright." I sniffled. "Here, child, Cantrol told me that Goombuckle left these for you."

He held out his hand and displayed a small, metal horse and a small, wooden star. I took them gingerly out of his hand and fingered them. I wiped the tears from my eyes and felt a wave of relief wash over my body. I laid closed my eyes and griped them, keeping them from anyone's grasp.

"Please don't fall asleep with them like that." I opened my eyes and looked at him questioningly. "It took both Cantrol and I working together to get them out of your hand last time. That's where the cuts are from." He chuckled. "Never knew anyone to have quite a grip." He looked out the open window and sighed. "Well, I must be off now. Please rest a little while I'm away. I'll see to it you aren't interrupted."

"Sir, you aren't a human either, are you?"

Mr. Lotusiat laughed as he moved the chair away from the bed and against the wall. "You are sharp aren't you?" he teased. "I suppose most of you children who were born here don't know what it's like to be in a population with other races. No, I'm not human. I am an elf." He gave a deep bow and smiled again at me.

I rumpled my eyebrows. I had heard that there were lots of elves in Palané, but didn't know much else. I wondered if they were just tall gnomes. I didn't voice my proposal and silently watched him leave.

I fingered the horse and star. The only good this did was to cause me to think about how Goombuckle used to do that. I quickly put them on the table next to the bed, closed my eyes, and fell asleep before I could start thinking about that.

…

When I awoke again I found a new set of clothes on the chair next to the table. I sat there looking at them for a while, then dared to put them on. They were a little big for me. Not quite as big on me as Michelle's clothes had been, but I was still forced to wear a belt with them.

The pants were made of a smooth, very light tan fabric and scrunched up at my ankles. It wasn't bad enough that it got in the way so I left the pant legs uncuffed. I didn't bother tucking in the shirt because, once again, it wasn't big enough to get in the way. It was made of a lighter material and pure white. There were embroideries on the sleeves made with green thread. I assumed the characters were from the elven alphabet. I actually liked the length of the sleeves. They came down far enough that I could barely see my finger tips if I extended my fingers. I knew that that would be useful. There was a pair of leather sandals that completed the outfit.

I stepped out of my room and looked both ways down the hall. Since I did not know anything about where I was I decided that it would be easier to find Cantrol if I went towards the screaming, aggressive voices I heard to my left. I made a couple turns and finally came to a hallway that had windows on one side. The windows looked out into a dirt yard. The yard was occupied by a number of men and children dressed in light armor wielding weapons. Some had dulled rapiers while others had wooden swords. I looked them over and decided that they all looked like Mr. Lotusiat and therefore were probably elves. One person who stood out from the bunch was a young human wielding a very big staff. He turned to strike his opponent and I recognized him as Cantrol.

Content that I had found my query, I walked through the door at the end of the hall and outside. Everyone stopped and looked at me as I walked out. Well, most everyone that is. Cantrol was still swinging away at his opponent. I didn't pay any attention to the people who were staring at me, though. I walked across the court and ignored their gawking presence.

I watched as Cantrol attacked fiercely and recklessly. I was amused at the verve with which he pressed on against his opponent. I noticed that the man didn't share my sentiments. He was barely able to fend off each attack. He kept a solemn face but I could tell that he thought there was something wrong with Cantrol. I now knew that I could beat Cantrol if I so needed to. While I had been with Philippe I had seen him swing a staff he had snagged off of a fallen foe. He had always swung it horizontally or sometimes vertically. Cantrol was not using it that way. For the majority of his attacks, he plunged it forward at the opponent. I supposed that he had been using a spear for too long to pick such a simple fighting style as the staff up.

His opponent finally fell backwards from Cantrol fury. Cantrol stopped the attacks and leaned wearily on his long staff. His opponent, after a few breaths, looked up and saw me standing behind Cantrol. Cantrol noticed that the man was not looking at him and turned to see what was more important. He stopped his breathing and opened his eyes wide.

After turning looking at how all the other men watched me he tossed down his staff angrily. "What are you doing here!" He grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. "You shouldn't be here!"

"I don't need any more rest, Cantrol," I argued as he started pushing me along.

"It's not just that." He came near to jogging me the door.

"Then what is it?"

We got to the door and I opened it. Cantrol gave me a little shove into the hallway and quickly closed the door behind him. He turned back and glared at me.

"This is not just a church. It is also a monastery," his voice was lowered to a rushed wisper. "This monastery is for males only. Mr. Lotusiat says that it's supposed to help the members focus more. The main idea for the monks here is to have no yearning for earthly possessions. They only see maybe two or three women a year. And," he tugged on the back of my shirt which made the front be pulled up to my throat, "they all dress very modestly."

"Hey! For one, it's not like anyone warned me! And secondly, I didn't pick these clothes out!" I made sure to keep my voice down as to not disturb any of the monks.

"Well, for one, you would have found out if you would have just rested longer like you should! And secondly, if you didn't like them you would have put on your old clothes that were lying right next to them!"

I couldn't argue with the second point but that wouldn't stop me from continuing with the first. "I don't need any more rest! I'm fine! There's nothing wrong with me! You don't have to act like you're my big brother or something!" Inside I was taken aback that I had compared him to a family member, considering that I had started caring about family members more since I had accepted Goombuckle as a father.

Cantrol didn't take much note of his supposed status. "If you weren't Goombuckle's daughter, I wouldn't. But as it is, I am bond by honor to take care of your-"

"That's enough Cantrol," a small yet powerful whisper commanded.

Cantrol snapped his body into a rigid alignment. "Mr. Lotusiat! I um… I mean-"

"Cantrol," Mr. Lotusiat said again, effectively silencing Cantrol. "I do believe that you now see why I deny you your rank. You have been the steward of Sir Dorvak for the past two years and yet you've learned virtually nothing."

Cantrol's shoulders slumped at this. I was considering leaving but Mr. Lotusiat looked straight at me when I started to move and it was enough to freeze me.

"You've learned to fight," continued Mr. Lotusiat, "you've learned to give homage, and you've learned how to act in the face of aristocrats. Yet you haven't learned the most important things. You haven't learned quietness, you haven't truly learned charity, you haven't learned humbleness, and you haven't learned purity. You are always making exceptions and trying to find ways around things you don't want to do. If you wish to become a holy knight, then you must learn to stop caring about yourself. Your god, the law, the poor, the innocent; these should be your only concerns. I will never knight you Cantrol, not until you have truly found the meaning of these things and have proven it in ways that in turn prove your soul."

Cantrol's head had slowly been lowing over the length of this tirade. Upon the ultimatum his whole body seemed to lose it's strength and he slumped against the wall. His eyes were wide and stared off through the ground.

After a very long, and very uncomfortable for myself, silence, during which not a speck of dust moved, a sound came from Cantrol's voice. It started with a short gasp and continued with a disheartened voice.

"How do I begin?" Cantrol whispered in between gasps.

I expected Mr. Lotusiat's face to soften in sympathy, but it remained as chiseled as stone. He let Cantrol wallow in silence for a moment more before speaking. "You may start," he said, placing emphasis on 'start', "by showing goodwill towards Ms. Chris, here, and by protecting and serving her whenever she may need it." He turned and looked at me with a stern face. I did my best to keep my emotions veiled. I don't think that it kept Mr. Lotusiat from seeing through me. "And you will do this neither because of honor nor because of the rank you desire. I trust that I am well understood?" Cantrol's head gave a slight movement. "Good. Ms. Chris," he turned his attention to me, "you are free to walk the grounds as you wish. I hope that you'll find this place comfortable and open."

With a final nod he exited and I looked cautiously towards Cantrol. He said nothing and made no movement. I couldn't think of anything to say to him, so we stood around for several minutes in silence. I didn't like this much. I really hadn't liked Cantrol following me around before. Now he had orders to do it and that made it even worse. I doubted if I would ever get a chance to do what I had liked to do again. With Cantrol always watching over me it would be a lot harder to lift some money if I wanted something fun to do. I couldn't very well sneak around either. How could I possibly occupy myself? I thought that perhaps Mr. Lotusiat had expected me of being a thief and this was his way to "kill two birds with one stone", as the saying goes.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight**

We eventually moved from that spot. I don't remember how long it was until I finally stopped noticing Cantrol shadowing me, though I'm sure that there wasn't any specific moment. I just know that finally I thought about it and realized that it really didn't bother me to have Cantrol around. Sure, he was annoy with all his morals and ethics, but he sure was useful for getting out of trouble. I'll admit I got caught once in a while, but it was no big deal because Cantrol decided that it was part of his duty to pull me out of the trouble. It didn't always go easy for him. He got beat up quite a bit but all that did was force him to get stronger.

I learned a lot about Cantrol those first months. I found that, when you stripped him of his honor, he ended up being very quiet and very sober. I suppose that's how most people are, but I guess I saw it the most in Cantrol. The truth is that once he was put in charge of my care, he had no problem doing all the things that Mr. Lotusiat had said he would have to do. It was as if he didn't even think of them, they simply came naturally, or so it seemed. He didn't say anything more to me than 'uh-huh' and 'hmm' for the first few weeks, I suppose he was still stunned by Mr. Lotusiat's ultimatum, but he eventually became more talkative.

I also found out from some of the men around the compound, as it was called by most, that Cantrol rarely ever fought like he had when I had first seen him "spar" the man. I didn't quite know how to digest that piece of information. Was he concerned for me? Or was he simply blowing off steam? If he was concerned, was it because of the mandate that Goombuckle had placed upon him? Or did he possibly, in some small way, actually care about me? If he did he didn't show any signs of it.

Well, after a few months I grew bored of the compound. It was rather repetitive there, which made it easy for the lure of adventure to take me. The temple portion had a few visitors every day. I'd spend most of my time there and talk to the travelers who passed by. It was in one of these meetings that the spark finally caught the lumber.

I had been talking to a man named Dogan Brownthumb. He was a druid who was had been searching the continent for the perfect grove to settle into. Two months traveling and it seemed to me that he had already seen more adventure than I had in my whole life. He had practically been across the whole continent already. He told me that from the compound, which I had found out was located in Pobrax, he was going to head up to the Great Northern Forest. I came close to jumping on top of him and begging to be brought with. I couldn't believe that I hadn't thought of that! No one had ever entered the Great Northern Forest yet! I could be one of the first! Sure, that still didn't compare with Goombuckle's adventure, but it was a start.

I didn't though. I didn't even hint that I wanted to go. I was too busy thinking of whether Mr. Lotusiat would let me and whether I could get out of Cantrol's sight long enough to get away and how long it would be until Goombuckle returned and what he would do if I wasn't there. So, before I could change my indecisiveness, Dogan was gone and so was my chance at a big, dangerous adventure. I chided myself on that for a long time, but eventually I found out more about the Great Northern Forest. After that I decided that it had been for the best that I had missed my chance.

However, while I was pouting about it I came to the conclusion that I should get away from the place. Everyone there had been really nice and everything was free for me, but it just wasn't "open" enough for me. I felt like I was entangled in a net the whole time; I couldn't move very much and if I did everyone in the compound would know. I always had to be afraid of Mr. Lotusiat finally confronting me about my… hobbies as well.

After much internal debate, I chose the freedom of the open road over the comforts of having an unquestionable supply of food, clean clothes, and a roof. It took quite some talking to get Mr. Lotusiat to allow me to go though. Even after a month of bothering him he still made me tell him exactly where I was planning to go and forced me to let Cantrol follow me. Mr. Lotusiat also refused to allow me to go to the Great Northern Forest and gave Cantrol permission to drag me back if I started heading that way. So instead I settled for going to Nomen, Goombuckle and my original destination.

As we were walking down the building lined road that led out of the compound I looked up. It was just in time to see a volley of arrows fly by, twenty feet above my head, and thud into a line of targets set up on the arch that went from one side of the entrance to the other. That was one thing that I wouldn't miss. While all the men at the compound were steel minded and solemn, they did have their oddities. This was only one of them. The entrance road was one hundred and twenty feet long and about twenty feet wide. As I said, on top of the entrance arch there were targets set up with a four foot diameter. Opposite these, one hundred and twenty feet, or so, away, standing on top of the temple, stood a group of archers carrying longbows. There were actually three groups of archers up there throughout the day, all ranging from five to six members. They would practice their archery up there at least once a day; one group from sun up to midday, another from midday to sun down, and the third practiced from then until midnight. They would alternate times, but no matter when, there was always the threat of being hit by an arrow if one of them misjudged it. According to Mr. Lotusiat, who had established the routine, it was to supposedly force the archers to focus more; for a miss could result in a death. Though it went unsaid, it was also a test of faith for any followers of Larethian who decided to enter the gate.

Cantrol didn't bring his horse with us; I don't know whether that was because he didn't want to pay to have it stabled or if he just didn't feel like riding. The first two day's travel was boring and non-eventful. We passed the time in an unbroken silence. Mr. Lotusiat had given us some money for our little venture, so I felt no need for more. Towards the beginning of the third day, we came across a small temple on the road side and decided to stop.

The ragged sign on the beaten post read, "Temple of Fharlanghn", then under that in smaller type, "Dweller on the Horizon and King of all Destinations". Intrigued, I stepped into the small establishment and looked around. It had several windows on three of the four sides which allowed for an ample amount of lighting. There were a few benches around the room and a silver offerings plate. My eyes were drawn directly to this and I slowly slinked towards it. The only other person in the room was Cantrol and he would be unable to see past my cloak. It was almost too easy.

"What are you doing, Chris?" Cantrol asked in a suspicious tone after he was done looking around in disgust at the poorness of the temple.

"Nothing," I chirped innocently.

"Chris."

"What! I'm just looking at this stuff here."

"Can I help you young lady?"

I jerked my head up in surprise and did my best on the spur of the moment to look innocent. To my left, a somewhat older man stood in a now open door way that led to the second half of the temple. I figured that I had been too absorbed in the plate to have notice him open it up.

"Oh, hello sir," I greeted quickly, "I was just putting some copper into your plate here."

"Oh!" the man exclaimed, "Why thank you, miss. Are you, by chance, a follower of Fharlanghn?"

I took a moment to think about how to respond to that. "I," I hesitated and waved my hand in the air slightly, hoping to distract his gaze from my other hand, which had been slowly rising from my coin pouch to the plate, "I do not serve any gods and I have never really wished to. However, after seeing your sign out front I became intrigued. I happen to be a… sort of traveler. Sort of like an adventurer, I suppose."

The man's eyes widened in surprise, "Truly? At such an age? That's no good," he sighed and shook his head. "May I ask why someone so young would be homeless?" His eyes shone with a strong light of sympathy.

I put on my sad mask and took a troubled breath. "Well, sir, my parents…" I sniffed a couple times and started blinking like I was trying not to cry. After taking a shaky breath I continued the act, "th-they died…"

I squeezed my eyes and managed to get a tear to come out. The old man's shoulders drooped and he let his head weigh itself down. I took a handful of my cloak and brought it up to wipe the tear away. I took the opportunity to glance discretely at Cantrol. He acted like he wasn't paying attention, but I could tell that I had struck a sensitive cord in him.

I felt a weak hand come to rest on my shoulder. I quickly looked up and into the old man's face. I could see that he was truly grieving for me. His eyes were wide and soft with sorrow.

"Wasn't there anyone else?" he asked softly. "An Uncle or Aunt? A grandparent perhaps?"

I shook my head. "No, my grandparents were all long dead and my parents had no siblings." The old man's eyes glossed over. I knew that I couldn't leave Goombuckle out because Cantrol was there, so I quickly added, "There was one other, though." The old man's head jerked up in surprise.

"Really, then… where is he? Why aren't you with him?"

I turned my face away from his and looked sadly off to my left. "He left me. It wasn't that he wanted to, I'm sure he would have preferred to stay with me. However, he had no real choice. I'm not exactly sure of what he is doing right now; I have received very little information on it. I just know that it has something to do with a duty he has to a friend, or perhaps the country."

"The country?" the old man pulled slightly back in shock. He eyed me carefully and I now knew that he was suddenly going to evaluate everything that I was about to say. "Was he a knight of some sort?" he questioned slowly.

"I suppose that you could say that. He was one of the explores of this land for The Republic."

The old man had slowly backed up so that he could see my whole body. Now he seemed a bit irritated, or disgusted, with me."Miss, how is it, exactly, that you would expect me to believe such a thing. Those men, they are legendary. It would strike me as slightly odd that he would not live in Palané where he could enjoy the many guerdons that The Republic would have presented him for his works."

I didn't know how to answer that but I didn't need to.

"Good sir! I tell you that this young lady speaks the truth!"

I turned, trying to hide my surprise, and saw that Cantrol was the only other one in the room.

"And who exactly are you that I should believe what it is you say?" the priest demanded.

"Sir," Cantrol's voice boomed. I was thunderstruck to find out that he was not only defending me, but that he had such a commanding and powerful voice in him. "My name is Cantrol Porlan, son of Calver Porlan, Grand Tempest of Remador."

"And those are only words. What proof do you have to such a claim?"

Cantrol reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out a ring. "This is the Ring of Aradama!"

The ring was amazing. It had close to shinning red band and it almost looked like the top of it was glass and underneath it was a sort of black and red, twisting cloud. But I couldn't tell if I was just seeing things or if that was true, so I dismissed it as simply an illusion made by the light.

The old man gasped and staggered backwards and leaned against the wall. After a moment of staring in terror, a change came over his face. He folded his arms across his chest and looked at the ring skeptically.

"I have heard of this ring, it is a popular legend." The old man smirked. "So popular that it would be easy for a simple commoner to learn of it and use people's fear of the ring as a way to intimidate them. An easy way to make money, perhaps?"

Cantrol stared the old man down for what felt like a few minutes. Finally, he gave the old man a smirk of his own that seemed to make the man nearly wet his pants. "Come now sir, if you know the legend then you obviously know what the ring does. Is that not true?" He paused and waited for the priest's response but the old man didn't budge. "So, if this is the real thing, would you like to see it work? Do you think that I'm joking about this?" The old man still didn't say anything. In response, Cantrol put on the ring. "Ibara-"

As he spoke the word the center piece of the ring began to glow and now it seemed certain to me that it contained some kind of vapor inside, though that could simply be how it looked when the magic was activated.

"Wait! Stop!" the priest cut him off. "I believe you!"

Cantrol stopped speaking and the light died immediately. He took the ring off and put it back in the pouch. He tried to keep a serious face but I could tell that he was pleased with himself.

The man leaned against the wall and let out a labored sigh. "What are you, insane?" he exclaimed. "Magic is not something that you simply mess around with. Especially not that kind of magic!" He continued to mutter to himself for a bit after.

After a moment of silence, during which I sent a condescending look at Cantrol that made him look down in shame, I walked meekly over to the man.

"I apologize sir," I began, "My companion truly should not have gone to such lengths. You were right to say all the things you did. Magic is not a toy and rogues are common." The old man glared up at me and I gave him the best 'so sorry I'm about to cry' look I could muster. His expression loosened a little and he shook his head. He stood up and sighed.

"I apologize as well, for being so paranoid that is." He paused. "So, where were we before all that? Oh yes! You were saying that the path of Fharlanghn intrigued you," he was getting excited now. "Well, while you are currently wandering and homeless, would you mind if I accompanied you. I'm sure that you would be much safer if I came along. And along the way I can teach you about Fharlanghn. Perhaps, if you wanted to, you could become a priestess for him."

"I don't know about that just yet," I said slowly. "However, I don't suppose it would hurt to have you along, sir. But what about your temple?"

"Bah," the old man waved. "Let it be a home for them goblins for all I care. One of the key principals of Fharlanghn is that the journey is never over, that home is the road. I was a fool for stopping at this place for so long. That is not what the followers of The Dweller on the Horizon should be doing! They should be on the roads spreading the principals to all adventurers!"

I smiled at him. I guess in a way he almost reminded me of Goombuckle. Or perhaps I just missed Goombuckle so much that I was starting to see him in everyone. The truth is that I had turned around when Cantrol spoke because his voice had sounded like Goombuckle's to me.

"If that is how you feel, then I see no problem in allowing you to follow us."

"Thank you milady." He started to bow and stopped abruptly. He placed his hand on his back and a pained look appeared on his face. He lifted himself back up and gave a weak smile. "I suppose that these wasted years have not done anything to preserve my body."

Wexler, that was the cleric's name, quickly packed his pack and we were soon under way. I was surprised at how easily, eagerly even, he left his home. I didn't think that anyone who actually owned a home would ever be willing to just pick up and leave. But Wexler was.

Our little band wasn't quite as quiet as it had been when it consisted of only Cantrol and me. Wexler was constantly talking to me about Fharlanghn that day. I found most of the things that he said to be interesting, but towards the close of the day his little anecdotes were starting to border on annoying. Another thing was his attitude towards strangers. Should he see someone coming towards us on the road, he'd instantly sprout a smile that engulfed his face. He'd make a bee line for them and when they were within ten feet he would shout something along the lines of "Hail Fharlanghn" or "May Fharlanghn bless your journey". If I had to choose one thing that had embarrassed me the most, that was it.

Tensions were also growing a bit tight. I didn't quite understand it, but Wexler and Cantrol seemed to be at odds still. After every one of Wexler's greetings Cantrol would mutter something I couldn't catch. Apparently Wexler caught one of them and I saw him shoot a look at Cantrol who returned the glare.

At _long_ last we made it to Nomen. It was just about dark and the outermost homes already had lanterns lit. We paused at a distance and took the sight in. It didn't look like it was going to be a terribly large town. If anything its main point, as it seemed from the map that Mr. Lotusiat had given us, was to harvest lumber from Little Foot Forest and catch fish in Little Heel Lake. Through pure deduction I would say that the fishing was purely to feed the inhabitants of the town because Kotano was already a major sea food exporter so it and Estella would not need fish. Pobrax, though farther away from Jein than Nomen, would most likely get its fish from Jein because the Grand Road would be safer.

Nomen's other value redeemed it though. It was its aesthetic value. It was hard to tell at that time of day that it was so beautiful. But at the dawn and at the dusk, those times were amazing. I loved to watch the sun come up over the plains, painting the summer grass a tinted amber, always telling me of the miles that spanned between here and the first arrival. And the backdrop of purple mountains rising up before the setting, golden sphere evoked in me an involuntarily thought of all the adventures that were yet to be had. The houses were well built and picturesque during the day. At night they lit up like a bundle of stars in the oppressing darkness that the world had been enveloped by.

"So, do we waste money the first night on an inn," Cantrol asked as he weighed his money pouch in his hand, "or do we camp out again and enter the town first thing tomorrow?"

"What?" Wexler cried out. "Are you crazy? Don't you know how dangerous that would be? With all the goblins running around these days? Foolish child!"

Cantrol's face flushed, "Hey! Old man! Last time I checked I didn't live down here! Alright? I didn't know about any goblins running around!"

"Well maybe you should have been paying attention when I mentioned it to Chris! You young, half-witted, big mouthed-"

At this point all of the 9 Hells broke loose. The two were shouting all sorts of incoherent words and making threatening gestures. The truth is that I didn't recall Wexler saying anything about goblins. But none of that really mattered to me. I didn't mind spending a little bit of the money I got for free from Mr. Lotusiat. Not only that, but I was confident I could easily refill it should I run out.

So I walked away. The two didn't even notice that I was gone and they didn't come after me while I was walking to the inn. Nor did I hear them enter the inn after I had already paid for my room, gone up to it, and gotten into bed.

Suffice it to say, I don't think that they got done arguing until just before sun up. Or at least that's how it appeared when I saw the two, completely worn out and quietly sipping coffee in the common room, when I came down the next morning.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine**

Content to awake in the same place as I had fallen asleep, I started the next day out happily. As I explored the town with a happy disposition Wexler and Cantrol wearily trudged along behind. This also helped me maintain my perkiness because it assured me that if I wanted to do something that they might frown upon, I wouldn't have to worry about reparations.

But I didn't bother trying at all that day. I don't really know why, I just wasn't in the mood. Perhaps all the wonder of the world around me just overwhelmed my conscious mind. There was so much around me that I wanted to explore. I didn't take more than a five minute stop all day even though the town was truly a bit on the small side. But just because it was smaller didn't mean that it contained a smaller amount of attractions. There were three or four separate street performers who apparently came out daily to display their talents. Along the road that cut through town there were craftsmen and artists selling their wares. Each one appeared to be familiar with every person who walked into town and eagerly offered help should the traveler need it.

By evening, when I returned to the inn to find Wexler and Cantrol bickering again, I had decided that I had happened to come during a festival day. However, the following day was similar, which I concluded meant that the festival must last for near to a week. That next day I used to become more intimate with my new surroundings. Perhaps a better explanation for it was that I became more mischievous.

I made myself a mental list of goals that I wanted to accomplish. I finished my first goal by a little after midday. That was to steal various articles, which I returned later, with the exception of an apple that I had taken around noon, and see if I could get caught. I was curious to see if it would be harder to take things since there were less people. It wasn't. Since the atmosphere was so light in the town, the people were careless and didn't notice. After finding this out I felt an impulse to try to get caught. So, I inserted that goal in before the second one and went to work on it.

I lessened my cautiousness bit by bit until the point that I wanted to smack my head against a wall until it bled. These people were so unobservant that in the end I found a spot where I could stand right in front of a local sheriff and right in clear view of the bread seller that I was going to take from and made a big swooping action with my arm. I grabbed the bread with both arms extended and then began to take big, pronounced steps away. It took the sheriff, even though he was looking straight at me and was standing not two feet away, a good minute to realize what was happening. I was about ready to turn, walk over to him, and nail him over the head with the bread when he finally called out. I turned around, trying to act like I was surprised and upset that I had been caught, even though I was so happy that it had finally happen, but instead of yelling or scolding me, he simply reminded me that I had forgot to pay for the loaf.

Half content and half on the verge of breaking out in tears, I continued my list. By the time that the sun started to set I had found about six different ways to get to the rooftops of town that were easily accessible. I was about to get down off of the roof when a sparkle caught my eye. I looked up and that was the first time that I saw the magnificent beauty of the Socear Mountain Range. I was paralyzed at the sight of it. Without knowing it, I settled back onto the roof and leaned back, supporting myself with my arms. As with all the other times that I would see them, an intangible whisper came to me. It was warm, and comforting… and victorious.

The mountains were so huge, seemingly insurmountable. They stretched on from north to south, far out of my sight. What did that mean? What kind of being could have forged such a mighty chain? Nothing less than a god, obviously. And it seemed that only a being of such stature could pass through them. Event though they were rather far away, I knew they had to be treacherous...

Before I knew it, the sun was behind the mountains and I carefully climbed down from the roof. Instead of heading back to the inn by way of the direct route, I tried to accomplish number four on my list, which was to see if I could remember how to get from place to place if I got lost. So, I started walking off in the opposite direction of the inn. I took several random turns at random intervals and about ten minutes later judged that I had done a well enough job of getting myself lost.

Unfortunately, I did such a good job of getting myself lost that I was, in fact, lost. I tried to determine where in town I was so that I could find my way back, but I didn't recognize any of my surroundings. I didn't panic though. I had lived on the streets for practically my whole life and knew how to get around towns well. I knew that eventually I would either hit the end of town or find a road that I remembered. Jein was the only town that I had ever traveled that didn't follow those guidelines, and even then it was only the west side.

Eventually I wandered on to a street that I knew that I had never been to before because it was the only block that had shutters on the windows of the first floor of every house. I cautiously stepped down the street, hoping that it would lead me to a familiar one. As I crept along I made sure that my sheath was secure to my belt and the dagger was in its correct place. Subconsciously I hunched my shoulders over into a position that may have meant that I was cold. But I wasn't. My instincts simply knew that I had less a chance of looking vulnerable if I seemed to want to exclude myself from the world.

As I neared the end of the street my nose caught the sent of a familiar smell. It was not necessarily a smell that I enjoyed, but it gave me a small amount of comfort. I followed it and saw that the building on my right had light flittering through its shutters. I walked to the door and listened. A pair of people were talking inside, loud enough that I didn't need to try to hear them. There were a couple of interjections during the conversation so I knew that there were a few more men inside. From what they were saying it sounded like they were part of a gang or the likes, not the tavern that I had been expecting.

Suddenly I heard one of the two men who were having the conversation curse and yell. I heard a scraping noise and jumped away from the door. I barely made it out of the way before the door exploded outwards and a strong appearing man landed on top of it.

"You weak-hearted little pup!" a voice bellowed from inside. "When I tell you to do something, do it!"

The man got up and limped down the way I had come, nearly avoiding getting struck by a chair as he left the light that came through the door. Curiosity took a hold of me and I peeked through the broken doorway. A man even larger than Mr. Bungle stepped through as I was moving to looking. He was large enough, and ugly enough, that I wondered if he even was a man. He stepped out looking the way that the man had limped off and didn't notice me at first. However, when he turned to pick up the chair he did.

I stood stock still, hoping that I was just imagining that he saw me. He stood equally still. There was a call from inside and he quickly grabbed me with one meaty hand and the chair with the other. I let out a cry of pain as he squeezed my arm and dragged me inside.

"Boss, she uz standin' outside. What you wan' me do?"

The man he was addressing was sitting on a barrel at the back of the room, directly opposite the door with his back to the wall. He was slightly shorter than most adults, though not by enough to make a difference. He was also thin and lean in figure. Before the monster-of-a-man spoke, the "boss" was looking at his hands with an indifference, or perhaps boredom, that I felt was uncalled for given the fact that he had just had a man thrown out the door. He looked up in surprise, however, when he heard what the big man had said. Honestly, I actually suspected that there was a little bit of fear in his gaze. But after a moment he relaxed. He leaned back in his chair and let it slowly drift backwards and rest against the wall. As he did so he scratched his neck and decided to look towards the north side of the room. Apparently he was at a point in boredom that it might prove fun to try and spot something that he hadn't already seen for the hundredth time.

"It doesn't really matter what _I_ want you to do, Norg," he said smoothly. "I could tell you to keep holding onto her arm, or you could just do that on your own. Either way that action will result with your gushing blood on my floor."

Norg gawked at his boss. I was near the point of showing my astonishment, but I held onto my composure.

"What you mean? I ain't done nuttin' to ya, boss?" Norg was trembling now which struck a strong fear into my heart.

_What could someone so skinny and... and weak looking do? Is he some kind of wizard?_

"I'm not saying _that_, oh unobservant one," he sighed in annoyance. He turned back to me and I felt like he was searching my mind. "I just decided to inform you that that little girl is ready to use her dagger on you. At that range it would most likely be impossible to dodge the attack. And I'm sure that she has an idea of quite a few, easily reachable places that might make it quite painful for you."

Norg took a good minute to digest this information. Meanwhile, I kept my gaze locked on the Boss'. I thought that by this time I should be able to hide my dagger from anyone.

_He must have eyes like Midas has ears_, I thought to myself, still a bit afraid of the man.

Immediately after thinking it I saw a smile begin to play at the boss' lips. I began to panic a little. Had I said that out loud? I couldn't have. It had merely been a thought. But then, how would he know what I was thinking. Was I visibly shaken by the fact that he had noticed? That had to be it. He must have seen me do something incredibly discrete. But then… who, or what, was he that he could have noticed it and have interpreted it for what it was.

At this point Norg leapt backwards from me. I heard someone, who I assumed to be Norg, unsheathe a weapon.

"Put it away Norg," the boss sighed in his normal, bored tone. I didn't hear Norg move. "Norg," he reasserted. Still no movement. The boss moved his eyes to peer past me. They now seemed severely annoyed by the insubordination.

"But-" Norg started to wimper, pleading to be understood.

"It's not here, Norg!" The Boss yelled.

Norg fumbled with his weapon and quickly put it away. The Boss exhaled the rest of his anger.

Despite the fact that Norg had been neutralized I kept my dagger at ready. I didn't like this new opponent one bit. I let my eyes take in the room, but did not turn my head away from him. There was another man in the far right corner, he was watching, but wasn't giving the situation much attention. I thought I heard someone other than Norg cause the floor to creak behind me.

There was a fireplace at the far left end of the room. Inside ashes were piled up against the walls of the hearth. It appeared that the mantel needed a few hour's worth of cleaning in order to look somewhat normal. Sitting on top of it was a big sword, bigger than any sword I had encountered before. I decided that was Norg's, though couldn't understand why it was so neglected. Its sheath was covered in as much dust as the mantel and was tarnished from smoke. Next to the fire place, a fire poker stood at attention. It was bent in several spots and I questioned whether or not it actually served the purpose that it was made for.

Other than the fire place, there wasn't much else in the place. A few crates stood here and there. I thought that I had seen a counter somewhere along the front wall when I had been pulled in. Pretty much the place was almost as dusty and old looking as the old house that Goombuckle and I had lived in.

"You seem to be a very observant person, Miss." He let a smile peek through. "Tell me, what's your name?"

I didn't answer him at first. I stared hard into his eyes as I decided what to tell him. I could tell him my alias, or if I wanted to, I could tell him my real name. It had been long enough since I had used that name; I doubted anyone would remember it. I may have been able to go by any of my other names, but I'd be running a risk with those.

"Any name will do, Miss," the Boss said quietly.

I stopped thinking. I stopped breathing. I didn't stop starring. My whole body started to tingle, that's how afraid I was. After watching him smirk for an eternity, I tightened my grip on my dagger and tensed my arm in anticipation.

"How about this," he seemed intrigued now. He stopped lounging and leaned forward on his chair. There was a ravenous, excited gleam in his eyes. But it was very controlled hunger. It wasn't animalistic. It was the stare of a genius predator. In a way, it was both gloating at me and studying me with the deepest scrutiny.

I slowly hunkered down, ready to leap out of the way of any attack. Or to leap forward to attack.

"I'll tell you some of my aliases," he finished. He waited for a response but I didn't give him any. "I've been know as Delinquent, Thief, and Scoundrel. Others have called me Adventurer, Vagabond, and Man of the Wind. More recently I've been described as Mastermind, Heart Searcher, and Leader. Currently, most people call me Guild Master."

We regarded each other in silence. I knew he was awaiting a response. I also knew that he knew that I was waiting for an attack.

"Well, will you tell me?"

Absolute silence filled the room.

The Man leapt out of his seat with a speed that I expected but also seemed impossible to me. In reflex I leapt forward as well. There was a clash and everything stopped.

My dagger was nuzzling his chest, having pierced through his shirt but had stopped before puncturing the skin. It was not by will, though, that it had not gone further. It was stuck, the cross guard being held at bay by the "Guild Master's" own dagger. But that wasn't his only weapon. A scimitar was pressed up under my chin.

I stared him in the face. His eyes almost shot forth light with all the excitement that was held behind them.

"Very good," he purred. "Very, very impressive. Now, impress me even more and tell me what you can't see."

I sent all the hatred in me at him through my eyes. I kept all my senses locked on him because I knew what he meant and didn't need my senses to answer to the question.

"There are two crossbows or bows aimed at me right now. Norg has his weapon ready to be stuck in me. Even if I could avoid every attack and disarm you of both weapons you probably have one or two more daggers or some other kind of small weapon hidden on you."

The Man's face shattered into a big smile and his voice broke into laughter.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Chapter Ten**

"We're what?"

I glared at Cantrol. I had known that he wouldn't like the idea, but this had been what Goombuckle wanted to do in the first place. There was no way I would let a snob like Cantrol stop me from do this.

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with this, child! It's only natural that a pupil of a cleric of Fharlanghn would want to do it. In fact, my deity demands that young acolytes take part!" Wexler proclaimed.

"Listen old man! I was put in charge of Chris' care and protection, not you! I don't think that allowing Chris to go off on some quest that was given to her by a total and complete stranger would be very responsible of me!"

"Oh yes! And you've been doing such a good job of keeping her safe, oh Master Cantrol! Why, letting her wander around by herself at night is very responsible! If you were really keeping tabs on her safety, then how precisely was it that she met these 'strangers' who proposed the job?"

I could see that Cantrol was struggling with his anger. "And where were you, geezer?" he demanded. "If she is really your pupil, then why aren't you making sure that she doesn't get herself hurt, or even dead?"

"Once again, unknowledgeable baby, it is part of Fharlanghn's law," Wexler replied in a cool voice. "Those who cannot survive on their own in society or on the road are simply not meant to be clerics."

"It sounds like Fharlanghn is quite cold towards his clerics," spat Cantrol.

"We clerics of Fharlanghn are called to aid fellow adventurers! If we cannot help ourselves, then how can we possibly be expected to help others? Unlike certain other gods I can name, Fharlanghn favors no one race or type of person."

I could see Cantrol's mind working to think of something to say. I expected it to be something about superiority. But before Cantrol could speak, Wexler continued.

"Besides, if Miss Chris here were to get into some kind of trouble," Wexler's face showed that he was about to make a striking blow, "you could always just use that ring of yours."

Cantrol's eyes opened wide. I was equally as shocked at the attack. I guessed that Wexler must have been brooding over the whole ring incident ever since it happened.

"You're afraid to use it? Aren't you, boy?" Wexler asked after the silence had filled its space. His voice was calm and silent while his eyes burrowed their way through Cantrol.

"N-no," Cantrol stuttered, trying to beat back the advancing eyes. "Why would I-"

"Because, you _understand_ its power," Wexler cut him off.

"G-get away from me, you senile, old coot!" Cantrol shouted in anger and retreated from the inn.

"So Chris," Wexler turned to me after a moment, his voice and visage now in stark contrast to its previous state, "shall I now teach you the morning ritual?"

"Yes… sir."

"Very good."

…

"So, these are the people you're traveling with?"

"Yes they are, Nick."

"I must say, they are not quite as impressive as yourself. But I'm sure they are not two dimensional. At least I hope."

I was standing in the front room of the place that, I had learned, was more commonly referred to as "The Guild". "The Guild Master", also better known as Nicholas Namigurai, was wearing a chain shirt and was resting in his chair again. And again he was lounging about with absolutely no interest in the little assembly before him. Meanwhile, Cantrol and Wexler were getting a little aggravated as well as a little fidgety; after all, they were surrounded, indirectly, on three sides by the rest of Nick's crew.

"I'll admit it is good to finally have a cleric on board. That should help cut down on the cost of healing," Nick said as he let his lazy eyes gloss over Wexler. "And I don't suppose it would hurt to have some more muscle readily available," Nick sighed with an absentminded look at Cantrol.

I looked over at the two as well. Wexler was completely neutral to the comment, almost like he hadn't heard it. Cantrol, on the other hand, seemed to be a bit insulted at being referred to as "muscle". I didn't understand why he would be. But at the same time there were quite a few things about Cantrol that I didn't understand, so I let it slip.  
"Well," Nick yawned getting up form his seat, "I guess we should be on our way. We'll be lucky if we can make it to our destination by nightfall. You guys have got everything you need, right?"

"Yep!" I smiled as I presented the leather sac that I had bought to hold my stuff. "We've got rations and torches," I held up the object in my other hand, "and I got a bedroll."

"That's great," Nick smiled back, "but why are you carrying your stuff."

I started to answer but he stepped forward and took the bag and bedroll before I could get a word out. I started to tell him that he didn't have to carry my stuff for me, but he briskly walked over and tied them to Cantrol's backpack. I nearly laughed as Cantrol stared at the added weight.

"What do you think you're doing?" he objected.

"Well, you're here to protect her, right?" Nick asked with a grin.

"Yes, and it would be easier for me to do that with less weight."

Nick shook his head and chuckled. "You're missing the point, kid. How will she be able to run away when you get your butt kicked if she has to carry the stuff?"

"I won't be beat. I'm stronger than those little beasts," Cantrol argued.

"Oh, really? Well maybe I don't agree because all I see you carrying is a light weight, wimpy spear," Nick gave Cantrol's spear a little slap for emphasis. He then jerked his thumb at Norg. "I can tell that Norg actually has some muscle on him just by looking at that great club that he's carrying and the falchion. If you really want to make me think that you're strong enough to make dragging you along on this trip worthwhile," he put his face close to Cantrol's and smirked, "then show me how much you can lug."

…

Nick was a bit off with the time. We had stopped once at midday for a quick meal and had stopped for a while for a rest a few hours after that. By the time we had stopped to make camp it was dark and Cantrol was lagging a good twenty or twenty five feet behind us. He had been puffing and sweating, but to my surprise he didn't complain once.

Nick seemed equally impressed; especially given that Wexler had complained about carrying too much for an old man and Nick had been too happy to transfer a large portion of it to Cantrol's pack. He now sat beside Cantrol, offering him some of his share of a pheasant that the ranger, Ronever, had managed to shoot. Nick lightened up the rest of the group as well with a funny story about a Pixie that had stolen from Hill Giant. It helped every one loosen up, given our conditions.

We had assembled a ways off from a goblin "school". Well, at least that's what Nick had told us. Apparently there was a grouping of huts that was the center of the goblin's community of magic. Nick had told me that it was where all goblins who took up wizardry studied. Our job was very complex, but basically it boiled down to destroy everything.

And I was nervous.

There is no way I could lie to you and say that I felt fine. I looked around every few seconds. I worried if the goblins were stalking us, if they had managed to see Nick and Ronever who had scouted ahead to the edge of their establishments. Had I been thinking logically, I wouldn't have been worried. The two of them were like shadows as they passed through the evening forest. Upon their return I had nearly stabbed Nick because he had snuck up on me while I was eating.

But being attacked wasn't my only worry. I was also unnerved by the thought of attacking. This would be the first time that I ever fought a creature that was not human. This would be so much different than anything I had ever experienced. I knew in my core that there was something wrong with simply attacking them. I wasn't able to say what was wrong with it exactly. After all, they did attack town every so often. This was just payback, or protection even.

Eventually I realized that I thinking about it too much. As per my life law, therefore, I did my best not to dwell on it any longer. I found ignoring all the thoughts to be a bit difficult, though. Hoping that some sleep would stop them, I got up and started to walk away.

"Where are you going, Chris?" Nick asked.

"I'm going to go to bed now so that I'll be fully rested for tomorrow," I replied and signified the bedroll I was carrying.

Nick frowned and I got a bad feeling in my stomach. "Chris, I talked it over with Ronever and we thought that a surprise attack at night would be best."

"What?" My eyes were widening. It seemed to me a little cowardly to attack someone in their sleep.

"Listen, I'm fully aware that you've never done this before so I'm going to explain some things to you," Nick voice grew grave and his lazy eyes became dark. "This kinds of thing… it's not like your normal adventure, I'll admit. The truth is that we've only done this once before. I know you were expecting a normal adventure, and believe me, I wish I could take you on one, one that would make for a great camp fire story. But this mission that was given to my guild is very urgent. We have to get this done as soon as possible. I suppose I was being a bit selfish when I invited you; I guess I was only thinking about the added security that you and the rest of your group would add. I should have thought about how it would affect you. I promise, though, I will take you on a real adventure," his eyes grew bright and pleading. "I just would like this one favor from you. Please, help me out on this one."

I stared at him and felt him search me. I thought hard about it. Basically, we were going to kill a bunch of other creatures. They weren't humans, so I figured that it would be like killing some kind of animal.

_That's it_, I thought, _it'd be like killing a pack of wolves that had been attacking citizens of town. But… wolves aren't smart enough to create magic. So how smart do you have to be to cast spells?_

Then I thought of something else. How many villages were wiped out when the people of Palané first landed here? How many people were misplaced because we took over the land?

"Yes," I said.

"'Yes' what?" Nick asked carefully.

"Yes, we will help you."

"Thank you," Nick smiled. It looked like Cantrol's luggage had been taken off his shoulders. "Thank you, thank you. I promise the next thing we do after getting this over with is to go on a great adventure."

I smiled back and sat back down. I stared at the fire and felt good about myself. I was going to share something with Goombuckle. I would experience what he had when he had started to claim this land. I'd be able to tell him how brave I had been. How I had destroyed a village in the name of Salidemthía.

After a long time Nick stood up and started briefing us.

"Now, how silent can you two be?" he asked Cantrol and Wexler.

"Well," Wexler slowly said, "this scale mail isn't exactly the quietest, and I've never really done much sneaking around in the first place."

"I'm not one to sneak up on my opponent either," Cantrol asserted with his normal air of superiority.

"Alright, good enough," Nick said quickly, "Norg isn't exactly the lightest on his feet either."

"Which means…" Cantrol prodded after Nick turned back around and started heading away from the camp fire.

Norg landed a big, meaty hand on Cantrol's shoulder that seemed to almost knock him over. "Means we da chaos."

"Oh, great," Cantrol muttered and got up.

Ronever dumped a bucket of water on the camp fire and everything was dark.

We walked in a group with no specific order or pattern to it. I cringed at how much noise Cantrol, Norg, and Wexler were making. Fortunately, we were far enough away from the goblin's settlement by the time Nick had us stop. He signaled us together into a little group and gave last minute instructions.

"Alright, this is going to be very hectic and very dangerous." He turned to me. "Chris, are you sure that you're still ok doing this?" I nodded. "Good. Now, those of you who will be disturbing all peace and turning these woods into a nightmare for those little beasts, I need you to give us about a three hundred count to get into position. Once you get done it's really simple: just charge in screaming with your weapons out and act like you're leading the armies of the abyss. As for the rest of us, we'll split into two groups. Chris and I will attack from the east south-east flank and Ronever and Williams will attack from the north-west." Nick stopped to make sure everyone understood. Once he got some sort of sign from everyone that his instructions were understood he continued. "And remember the number one rule: watch each others back. That applies doubly for you three." His finger swept from Wexler to Norg and finally to Cantrol. He thought for a moment then shrugged. "Well, I guess that's it. I'll see you all at the center when it's all over."

We broke up and circled around as quickly and quietly as possible. It was a bit difficult for me but Nick seemed to have no trouble. He slowed down enough for me to keep up, though. After what I guessed was about "two hundred count" Nick stopped. He signaled me closer to him and I obliged. We had a clear view between two huts to the fire in the center of them.

"You have an extra dagger, correct?" he whispered.

I was a bit surprised, I hadn't thought of getting another one. "No, I didn't think I'd need another one."

"Well let this be a lesson. Don't ever go adventuring, or the like, without a spare weapon. Sometimes things can happen and you'll want to have the reassurance of a second."

Nick handed me one of his and I thanked him for it. There was enough moonlight that I could make out a little bit of his face. It wasn't the careless, absentminded face that I had seen before. In a way it was like the face he had on when he had attacked me. But the vibrant, quick eyes were coated with darkness this time and there was no smile on his lips.

A blood-thirsty scream destroyed what had been a silent night. The ferocity in it vowed that the previous condition would never be restored.

Nick looked at me one last time and then was off. I raced after him and saw small monsters flicker past the fire. Nick tore past the hut and into the fire's glow. He quickly stabbed a goblin that hadn't realized his presence as the goblin raced by. The goblin went down in an instant.

By the time I got to the edge of the hut there was complete pandemonium. I paused and looked around. There were a lot more goblins than I would have expected to come from tents. Some where in the ruckus I thought I heard Nick call my name. Despite the average height of the enemies, a quick survey didn't reveal him to me so I stalked around the perimeter and tried to pick out an easy target.

I sent a few that hadn't seen me as they ran by. As I watched I could see random sparks of colors and sometimes flames as the goblins attacked. I wasn't even sure if they were hitting their real enemy.

_Just like a bunch of animals_, I reassured myself. _Their just a bunch of wild animals that we'll keep from causing anyone else harm_.

After a few seconds I found a goblin standing stock-still in fear of the chaos. I snuck up behind him and raised both hands over my head in preparation to kill him. I knew I was smiling. This was so simple and it was drawing me closer to Goombuckle. He would be proud of me. And finally I would have a story to tell him. Sure, I might spice it up a little; make it more worthy of his attention. But the best part was that…

This was only the beginning…

As I struck, though, a movement caught my eye. One of the creatures, I assumed a female of their race, was running. I saw her bend down as she ran and scoop up a bundle. She pressed it firmly to her chest and sprinted for dear life. But she ran right by Norg. He turned around and saw her. Without even the slightest thought he ran her through the back with his falchion as she passed.

_The bundle hit the ground…_

_And over the screams and shouts…_

_I heard a baby's cry…_

_And suddenly…_

_Suddenly everything changed…_

Time had slowed. The woman laid on her stomach on the ground, with the sword sticking out of her back. She reached forward, her face clearly showing that she wanted to hold her baby one last time. But the snarling monster wouldn't have it. The beast tore the sword out violently and made one final slice. With that slice my world completely froze.

My eyes, the only things left moving, frantically looked around for a friendly face, but all my people were being slaughtered by strange animals. Then I saw a figure at the opposite end of settlement.

_Goombuckle!_

But he appeared to be crying. I couldn't understand why. This had been what he had done, right? Yet as I thought about it, he had never once told me a story about any of these things. Why hadn't he? It could only be… that he knew the truth. And he was now crying… because I had to learn it the hard way.

Time started again and large poleaxe struck his stomach so hard that it came out his back. The axe kept singing and pushed him to the ground.

Time stopped again and I realized a horrible truth. Everything was the same as the last time. I was striking at the same angle, in the same formation, and from the same perspective as _he_ had. I looked down at my target. During the brief amount of time that time had begun moving again, my hands had moved the dagger closer to the victim's neck. But it wasn't just any victim. It wasn't a monster.

It was Philippe!

_No, No, No!_ my mind shouted.

Or at least I thought that it had been said in my mind. But as my hands went lower, moving against my will, the head started to turn. It turned as if it had heard me shout it. But it never made it all the way around. My dagger struck into the back of Philippe's neck, through the cartilage between the vertebrae, through the throat. My arms tore and cut through a large vein in the neck.

I felt my legs give out and I landed onto of the body that was moaning, but not moving. It had been a horrible way to send it to its death. Why had I done it? I didn't want to. But I did it. I didn't even know that I knew how to do it. I felt my body convulse as I threw up. Despite it all, though, I didn't move. I didn't want to. I wanted a goblin to come along and kill me off. I didn't want to live with this nagging thought. And it sickened me even more that the thought was about my self.

_I had killed Philippe._

Had there been any doubt before. It was non-existent now. I was given another chance to relive the situation. And I had struck. I had finally killed Philippe.

As the thoughts crashed into each other as they flew around my mind I saw another goblin come up to me. At first I thought that my prayer was answered. But he was stumbling and it seemed that the gods had sent him to die on top of me.

I continued to cry and I curled up as I tried to escape reality. I was now drenched in blood and I wondered if I was just a toy for the gods to torment. My screams and cries blended with those of the goblins.

It must not have been much later, because the battle was still going on, and the blood on me had yet to dry, when I felt the dead goblin on top of me get moved. Then, through the blurred thoughts and realities, I felt a pair of strong hands pick me up. I gripped at its shirt as gently carried me. I didn't care who it was. I pressed against it and cried like a little child. At length, as the battle grew more distant, It started to sing. The song was incomprehensible to my conscious mind, but the deepest part of my soul recognized it as a song that Goombuckle had sung to me once, in a time that seemed so far away. The song was not sung as perfectly as it was when Goombuckle sung it, but it comforted me nonetheless.

My savior set me down gently against a tree. With an arm it held me up and I felt it pour a liquid onto my head. A gentle hand ran through my hair and tried to clean my face. I still couldn't make out who it was, though. My vision still blurred and what made it clearly into my eyes was lost amongst my other thoughts, even if they had become more passive because of the song.  
At long last I stopped trying to understand my world and let myself drift into sleep.

A.N.- While I can still type, I might as well remind you that I post responses to chapters on my profile. Just in case you missed it on chapter one or forgot.


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven**

"What in the abyss were you thinking!?"

The voice awoke me, but I didn't move. Aside from still being tired, I realized that I wasn't sure where I was. So, rather than showing any signs of consciousness, I waited to learn of who was with me.

"I had no idea, I was given the job and I set out to complete it!"

I recognized the voice as Nick's.

"There were noncombatants there! You told us that there would only be magic users and maybe a few guards!"

It sounded like Cantrol's voice.

"Don't you listen? I didn't know! The report I was given never mentioned them!"

"Then why didn't you get Chris out of there when you found out your information was flawed?" Cantrol roared.

"Do you think she would have left? She was looking forward to it too much to have simply quit!"

I opened my eyes slightly and peered through my eye lashes. Cantrol's face was only a couple of inches from Nick's. He looked like he was ready to rip Nick up with his own hands. Nick was glaring back at him but at least seemed to be trying to control himself.

"I don't care how much she was looking forward to it! The fact of the matter is that you were paired with her and therefore had the responsibility to stop her from going into that mess!"

"I didn't think that it would have affected her the way it did!"

"Judging from how messed up she was, I would have to say that you made a very bad guess!"

"Speaking of which, what kind of hell-hole did you pull her out of in the first place?"

"What!" Cantrol's teeth were gritted and an attack from him seemed imminent.

"My brain nearly exploded when I read her mind! Her thoughts were so jumbled and fractured I couldn't even understand any of them! I'm almost afraid to find out what trash hole you-"

Cantrol let out a bloody scream and leapt forward. Nick saw him coming and dodged out of Cantrol's grasp. He quickly got behind Cantrol and yanked one of Cantrol's arms into a painful position behind Cantrol's back. With the other arm he positioned a knife against Cantrol's neck.

"For example," Nick continued, "do you know who Philippe is? Apparently Chris killed him. Or thinks she killed him."

I started to get nauseated at the thought of Philippe. I thought that he had been behind me. I thought that Goombuckle had helped me bury him. It seemed, though, that my mind had only been using Goombuckle as a shield, or a dam maybe, to make it seem that Philippe was finally gone. Once the dam had been destroyed, though, the despair was allowed to flood back in.

"I don't know who Philippe is, you scumbag." Cantrol grunted, giving a tug in an attempt to free himself.

Nick kept Cantrol in his grasps and pressed with the knife. I saw Cantrol squeeze his eyes and grit his teeth. Blood slowly crawled its way down his neck.

"I know that you've been trying to protect her. I guess this incident is a black mark for you, isn't it? I wasn't saying that she was trash; she's shown me that she has way too much potential to simply be trash. I'm like you; I'm frustrated that she's become so… so injured."

The bad feeling in my gut was nearly gone now. What Nick was saying about me was improving my mood bit by bit. It felt good to know that somebody thought that I had future. It also made me feel better knowing that Cantrol seemed to be trying to protect me because of me, and not because of his ambition.

Nick shoved Cantrol away. While Cantrol felt the puncture wound Nick wiped off his dagger and sheathed it. Nick thought for a second and sighed. "I'm sorry that I let that happen to her. Trust me, I wish that it never happened. I suppose that the only thing left to do is hope that the damage can be fixed."

Cantrol retreated to my side, where he had left his bag, in silence. He rummaged through his bag and pulled out a bandage which he used to wrap his neck. He looked at me and used a hand to brush my hair out of my face. I felt my heart flutter a little, but I didn't move. I absorbed the touch and dissected it. Was that the same touch? Was it him? A second later I was cursing myself for not paying enough attention when I had first been touched.

Of course, I was jumping to conclusions, I reasoned. What if it wasn't Cantrol. It could be Nick. It could even be Wexler, though the person who had saved me seemed to have been as tall as Cantrol or Nick. I'd just have to wait and see. I wouldn't ask them straight out. If it was Cantrol, I doubted that he'd admit to it. I wasn't sure if Wexler would but Nick probably would. Still, I would prefer to narrow it down a little before I actually asked.

"Hey, Norg?" Nicks voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Yeah, boss. I gotcha," replied Norg. After Norg said it I felt Cantrol stop moving. My instincts pulled at my curiosity to see why, but I kept myself still. "We gitten outa here," Norg announced.  
I heard Cantrol don his backpack and wondered if he'd rouse me. He didn't, however. Instead, he gingerly bent down and picked me up. I was amazed that he could do it even though he was already carrying all my stuff as well as his own. Once again I tried to learn something about the previous night, but could discern nothing.

Once we started going Cantrol's gait became a bit uneven, which I knew meant that we were in the rear.

I stirred a little bit and pretended to be waking up. I cautiously opened my eyes to see Cantrol looking down at me. His eyes looked like they were pleading for a sign that I was alright. I smiled. It seemed that for the first time he wasn't annoyed with me. Without saying anything I reached up and touched the wrappings on his neck.

"You got hurt?" I whispered.

"It's nothing, just a prick," Cantrol said quickly, keeping his head held high and out of my immediate reach.

"Why didn't Wexler heal you?"

"I didn't ask him to," Cantrol mumbled, shifting his gaze back to where he was going.

Without a word I pulled the loose end of the bandage and let the dressing unravel.

"Hey. What are you-" Cantrol started to say as he jerked his neck away.

Before he could say anymore I reached up and concentrated. I whispered the incantations that Wexler had taught me and the hand gestures. When I finished, the wound was healed and I checked to see how Cantrol was reacting. To my disappointment I couldn't interpret the emotion he was displaying. It seemed like shock but there seemed to be a measure of happiness in there along with a pinch of self-consciousness and… fear? Confused, I decided that I had merely misinterpreted his reaction and closed my eyes to get some more sleep.

A second later I felt Cantrol tighten his grip on me. I popped open an eye curiously. Cantrol's face was close to mine and I had to suppress a surprised squeek. Even though he had gotten my attention, he didn't say anything for a long time. He simply starred at me with soft, concerned eyes.

"Thank you, Chris," finally croaked out of Cantrol's apparently constricted throat.

I let a smile flit across my lips in reply. I did my best to snuggle a little closer to Cantrol right before I drifted off to sleep.

…

I spent the next couple of weeks "recovering". In my opinion, I was fully recovered after a couple days, but no one believed me. Despite all the effort I put into it.

I must have asked half a billion times if I could go out. Every time I asked I was told no. But no one ever got angry with my stubbornness. Well, at least not with my asking. But after a while I got so itchy to get out that I tried to sneak out. The inn, however, was more like a prison. Cantrol and Wexler patrolled the place so frequently that any normal exit was impossible. But I wasn't adverse to finding a new way out.

My escape from the cramped boredom was an excursion onto the roof. It wasn't a very difficult feat to perform. Since my room was located on the highest floor of the inn all I had to do was stand on the window sill and pull myself onto the roof. Granted, if I had been of normal height I would have had a much easier time getting up there. Nonetheless, just watching the day progress was almost as exciting as actually being down there myself. It was also at this time that I made it a habit to watch the sun set behind the Soccear Mountains. As the day dawned my hope got brighter. Any remaining terrors from That Night slowly dissipated into the early evening shadows.

Where would Nick take us? I couldn't imagine what it would be like to go on a real adventure. I had heard about them from travelers in bars and in the temple. From what I could gather, they started with lazy hikes through the forest. After a few days, you entered into the old graveyard, cave, or similar area. Once you got near your heart started pounding. You drew your weapon and prepared yourself for the worst. You walked cautiously, always looking in all directions until, suddenly…

…

"Don't dawdle, you three," Nick called back.

We were hiking up a steep hill. Nick, Norg, Ronever, and Williams were just about at the top of the hill. Cantrol, Wexler and I were just about at the bottom. It hadn't been a leisurely walk. It had been only been two days, but we were already tired of the hiking. Well, I was only bored. Cantrol and Wexler were about ready to drop over dead. Wexler was wearing his scale mail and had a full pack. Cantrol had his chain shirt on and had two full packs. The only thing I was carrying was a protective leather tunic, my dagger, and Nick's dagger that he had given me.

Nicks group had moved on throughout the past two days without much noise passing between them. There was a murmur or a quick "thank you" when one of the water skins were passed around and a quick divvying of chores when we had made camp. It was sort of odd to me. They seemed to be close knit, yet they refused to talk to each other.

As Cantrol and Wexler stopped to take a heavy, almost laborious breather, Nick pointed across the valley to the next hill. I looked to where he was pointing but saw nothing. I moved behind him to see if I was looking at the right place. It turned out that I was, but I still couldn't figure out what he was pointing at. So I asked.

"You probably can't see it, I barely can myself, but there are two pillars over there in the hillside. They mark the entrance. Provided that our companions here don't pass out," he smirked at Cantrol and Wexler who apparently hadn't noticed, "we should be there by midday. For their benefit we'll rest for the rest of the day and enter tomorrow morning."

A moment later we were marching again, or trudging in Cantrol and Wexler's case. I had plenty of time to build up my anxiety over tomorrow's venture before we even reached the bottom and started heading up the next hill. The eerie silence was the only other thing that I could think about. Even Cantrol and Wexler sounded quieter. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I could tell that something was wrong. I peered around but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

Not until it was too late.

A bone-shaking cry shattered the silence in an instant. Even as the cry began the underbrush started crackling and rustling at a rapid pace. When I finally regained myself, only a second after the cry had begun, I saw a large cat racing towards me. There had been forty feet between us at that moment, by the time my body started to move there were only ten feet separating us, and inches before my hand even touched Nick's dagger.

The cat was in mid air when its eyes rolled back into its head. Its large body went limp and landed on me, taking the wind out of my lungs. When I reflected upon the event later, oddly enough… I could have sworn that I had heard a bell ring somewhere. I had supposed it was just an effect of getting crushed.

I was too dazed to notice the hands pull the large cat off of me and then lift me quickly off the ground and caress my face. I think they said something, or yelled something, but by that time I was out.

I awoke to find Wexler kneeling before me. I could tell he was relieved to see me up. I then looked up to see Cantrol staring intently beside him. I couldn't help but smile at him. But when I did, his face changed to that weird expression I had seen before and he quickly diverted his gaze. I'll admit that response was starting to get annoying.

Before I could say anything, though, Nick's voice rose up from behind Cantrol.

"Looks like you're feeling better," he smiled over Cantrol's shoulder.

I started to return the smile, but then fully remembered what had happened. I looked around quickly for the deadly beast that had fallen on top of me. Seeming to sense my thoughts, Nick smiled again and jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

"We had Ronever and Williams skin it. It will make quite the trophy for back at The Guild. Those things normally don't come this far south."

The three men surrounding me moved out of the way so I could see. It had been a giant cat with black stripes. It's underside and insides of its legs had been cut away. Already it seemed like there was some temporary preparation in place to preserve it. The head had been left attached, probably to be stuffed later. But those hollow eyes still stared out, and the teeth still seemed to want blood. Yet, I wasn't feeling fear at the sight of it, but something else. Something much more terrifying. I was getting a sense of nostalgia. Like I had known the cat from somewhere. Or that somehow it knew me.

"Well, there's our first treasure from our little adventure. Let's go get the rest of it," Nick said cheerfully.

He gathered himself up and gave the order to continue the march. Cantrol firmly, gently helped me to my feet and made me walk at a slower pace than the rest of the group. Every time we came to some kind of difficult terrain, he would make me move doubly slow to make sure I did receive so much as a scratch. While part of me was a little frustrated at being babied so, the majority of my being was singing. I didn't know what I was feeling then, but later on I would know it as infatuation. Come to think of it, that day introduced me to quite a few emotions I had yet to experience; it is a wonder I even got to sleep that night. At that time, I just knew I was enjoying being with Cantrol. The memory of the pain and fear of when I faced the big cat paled away into a specter. As we fell further and further behind, it seemed more and more like this was our own little world. And that was perfectly fine. Absolutely fine…

By the time we arrived at the twin pillars we had sighted, Norg already had a fire going and Ronever and Williams seemed to be finishing up their search of the area. I glanced around but didn't notice anything except our own footprints in the dirt clearing that spewed from the moss-ridden mouth of the crypt; well, at least that's what it looked like to me. To think that anything would live down that dank entrance seemed improbable.

I heard Wexler snap at Cantrol, who was still at my side as I inspected the stonework on the pillars. Cantrol and I turned around in unison. Wexler gestured for Cantrol to approach and, with a quick glance back to me, complied. He approached the stone-faced holy man tentatively. It seemed to me that Wexler was about to scold Cantrol; perhaps for lagging behind and delaying his apprentice from her lessons. However, as soon as Cantrol was within arm's length he stepped forward and grinned. He put a fatherly hand on Cantrol's back and started walking him off into the forest, whispering to him the whole way. The cackling of the nearby fire swallowed any wisps I could have gleaned of the conversation. I glanced around and saw the only one paying attention was Nick. He sent me a smirk and went back to what he was doing. My ignorance shielded me from any chance of understanding what it all meant.

Defeated, I return with a sigh to one of the weather-beaten monoliths. It loomed nearly twice my height and seemed to be having no problem holding the gray-brick ceiling above its head. There were some carvings on it. At one point they might have been exquisite and masterful. Now there was nothing more than scratches and scribbles here and there. I could tell they were more defined at the top where they were partially protected by the roof.

Curious for a closer look, I climbed up and around the gaping mouth. I laid down on my stomach and slowly lowered myself over the edge. My hair danced around towards the ground, as if it was trying to ward it away, or perhaps my hair thought it could function as legs should I fall. I doubted I would, but at the same time I made sure to grab securely to a nearby root should worse come to worse. The inscriptions at the top were more pronounced than I had thought. A line of sharp script ringed the column. It was no where near as lovely as elven script but at least seemed fully developed. Below it, I could make out the start of a thatched pattern that, presumably, had at one point traveled to the ground. Here and there I could make out clear patches that may have held more script or perhaps pictures at one point. Whatever had been there, however, no longer existed.

"Interesting, isn't it?"

Jolted out of my intense study, I instinctively pulled my head back up. I saw someone's face blur by mine and heard a surprised shout. I yanked on the root to pull me to a safer place. Once everything stopped moving, I saw Nick standing there, frozen halfway through jerking away and smiling at me. Apparently he had gotten himself out of the way before we could collide. I pulled myself up to a sitting position and he rectified his stance.

"Are you alright?" he asked, just to be sure.

I nodded. "Who made this?"

He stepped closer to the pillar and stood on tip-toes to get a better look at it. "I believe I was told this used to be an aborigine ceremonial den. Used for some sort of celebration or ritual or something. Since they migrated further into the plains and we gained more control over this land, I highly doubt they've returned here for a good ten years. Reguardless," he finished his inspection and stepped back to get a better look at me, "we will be making sure to keep four people on watch at all time tonight. Just to make sure nothing else has decided to reside here."

I nodded and he began to turn away. Almost completely around, he turned back to look at me.

"Stay safe, Chris."


End file.
